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| Attentive class: Pupils learn math at the Providence Educational Complex, a successful private school in Ghana that is financially
backed by parents and microloans. Tugela Ridley/Special to The Christian Science Monitor |
Students in developing nations learn a lot thanks to small loans
Microloans, often used to help small businesses, are now helping private schools in Ghana and elsewhere.
from the November 8, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Criticism of high interest rates reached a crescendo last year in the wake of the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, which he founded to promote microcredit. But Getu defends the practice: "Interest is charged to cover our costs.... Serving the poor is expensive and that's why commercial banks don't go there," he says.
For Ethiopian-born Getu, the mission is personal, too. "I was a herd-boy in a village until I was 8 years old, so I know what a difference an education can make to a life," he insists. "I used to walk one hour every morning ... to school. I would fear two things: the village dogs and the other herd-boys who would chase and beat me.... For girls it can be much worse.... The shorter the distance, the safer [the girls] feel." That's why he's so eager to support schools right in the heart of poor neighborhoods.
Quality schooling is another motivator for parents, because many developing countries do little to hold teachers in public schools accountable. Often the teachers drum up votes for the ruling political party, so their jobs are safe even if they barely teach.
"In the private schools, the teachers are accountable to the school principal or school entrepreneur, who will fire them if they don't turn up for a couple days in a row or if they fall asleep in the classroom," says James Tooley, a researcher and advocate of private schools for the poor and president of the Education Fund for Global Orient, an investment company based in Singapore. "The parents are very keen judges," he adds. "They come to the school many times; they keenly look at the children's notebooks."
Here in Ashaiman, parents do indeed keep an eye on the school. "We are paying, so we want results," says shopkeeper Daniel Ekumah, who has four children.
The school charges the equivalent of $165 per year and $2 a week for food, but offers discounts for siblings and occasionally waives fees for hardship cases. It's a significant investment in Ghana, where the average per capita income is only $520.
Mr. Ekumah agrees that private school teachers are "more accountable." He regularly attends parent-teacher association meetings and, like other parents interviewed, believes his voice is heard. "At this place, the teachers can't come and fool around – they will get the sack!" he says gleefully.
Elizabeth Davis looks after a granddaughter and a niece, paying private-school fees for both because, she says, "in public schools, the children are too many in a class, [so] they don't get the chance to be taught properly."
Paulina Ekumah (no relation to Daniel), is more specific about what she hopes her investment will mean for her children: "I want to get at least one doctor and a lawyer or engineer."
Those are the kinds of stories heard over and over by Mr. Tooley. "Parents, frustrated with what they see in the government schools, scrimp and save to put their children into private schools and see just a huge difference, and suddenly hope is restored that their children will do better in their lives and the development process will continue," he says.
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