US-Based Retired Teacher Donates $38,000 in Learning Materials to 4 Accra Basic Schools

A US-based Ghanaian retired mathematics teacher and philanthropist, Samuel Quansah Quarcoo, has donated teaching and learning materials worth US$38,000 to four basic schools in Accra to help improve education delivery.

The donation comes amid ongoing challenges in public basic schools with inadequate teaching and learning resources, despite repeated appeals for government support.

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Beneficiary Schools
The items were presented to:
1. Odorkor Saleria Basic School ‘2’
2. Emmaus Methodist Model Basic School, Awoshie
3. Korle Gonno R/C Boys Basic School
4. Westside School

The donation included television sets, exercise and notebooks, school bags, attendance registers, assessment sheets, mathematical sets, pens, pencils, A4 sheets and other materials aimed at enhancing teaching and learning.

“Technology for Every Child”
Speaking at Odorkor Saleria Basic School, Mr. Quarcoo said his initiative started over three years ago after he was invited to speak at a school and saw the challenges firsthand. With support from benevolent families in the United States, he has since been supporting schools.

He stressed the urgent need for Ghanaian schools to embrace technology.

“The main thing that we are stressing right now is technological education for each school to be computer equipped, like in the US where we have schools where every child has a computer to learn with. Here we only have a computer lab for the children to go and learn. What about if we have a situation where every child has a computer? Even some teachers don’t have computers to use. Those are some of the technological gaps we have in the system. If we can address them, we will go a whole lot further,”* he said.

Addressing students at Emmaus Methodist, where he received a citation of honour, Mr. Quarcoo also urged responsible use of social media and Artificial Intelligence.

“Technology should help them learn and do research. With artificial intelligence, students should not copy answers blindly. They must always read carefully and verify the information they receive. Staying focused is very important,”* he told pupils.

Infrastructure Appeals
School authorities used the opportunity to appeal for more support.

Esi Kudjo, Headmistress of Emmaus Methodist Model Basic School, said: “What we need most is furniture for our classrooms, and our school building is still incomplete. If our benefactors can help us complete the building, we will be very grateful.”

At Korle Gonno R/C Boys Basic School, where Mr. Quarcoo was once a pupil in 1963, he expressed concern over deteriorating infrastructure including damaged ceilings, broken windows and lack of a perimeter wall.

James Amarkai Amarfio, Assistant Headteacher, appealed: “I appeal to donors to help us construct a wall around the school to stop unauthorised access, vandalism and other activities that disrupt teaching and learning. Our pupils also face sanitation challenges because people dump waste and cattle roam around the school compound.”

Next Phase Targets Rural Schools
Concluding the first phase at Westside School, Mr. Quarcoo said the initiative will be extended to rural communities.

“Schools in the city are a little better structured than those in the remote areas. On my next trip, we hope to visit schools in those communities because they also need help. We cannot expect the government to do everything. As individuals, we can support what government is doing. I also encourage our friends in the diaspora to visit their hometown schools and see how they can help improve education,” he said.

Heads of the beneficiary schools thanked Mr. Quarcoo and his partners for the intervention, describing it as a major boost to teaching and learning.