Education in Ghana is a consistent challenge, particularly in rural areas with “poor classroom conditions, inadequate textbooks and teaching materials and a high rate of female dropout after primary level.” The overall quality of education is low, with a child who has completed nearly 12 years of school having only learned the equivalent of fewer than six years of schooling. According to Cross Catholic Outreach, “nearly a third of students don’t complete primary school and only 47% complete secondary school.” Access to education aids the fight against poverty because receiving a high-quality education improves the likelihood of success for young children. Gender inequality is another issue for education in Ghana; child marriages, labor and the overarching stereotype that a female’s education is “less valuable” than a male’s.

Who is Grian?

Grian is a content creator, primarily publishing Minecraft videos on YouTube. Most known for being a prominent member of Minecraft’s Hermitcraft series, Grian has more than 8 million subscribers on YouTube meaning that he has the ability to reach and potentially influence a wide audience from all over the world. Over the course of 2021, Grian and his viewers worked on raising money to build a primary school in Ghana. Through various online events, they raised a total of more than £27,000 (almost $37,000), surpassing the sum needed to finish the project. While Grian raised this amount of money, credit also has to go to Nana A. Bonin III, Queen Mother of Denyase Traditional Area in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. She is the sole founder of this school and has worked to raise money since the project began in 2017.

The Denyaseman Village Pre-School

The Denyaseman Village Pre-School is located in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. In July 2022, the “official ceremony to commission the school took place.” In addition to the financial support from Grian’s efforts, there were demonstrations of generosity from the community, with a local tailor offering to “make the school uniforms if the parents provided fabric.” This project reflects the need for educational development in rural areas of Ghana. The Denyaseman Village Pre-School is just one example of work people do to boost education in Ghana.

The completion of Grian’s project will undoubtedly increase the quality of life of local children, both now and in the future. When looking at education in Ghana, the statistics are telling enough that work is necessary to boost accessibility to learning resources. The education system faces “a fragmented and overloaded curriculum, unequal access and weak and incoherent administrative control.” In Ghana, it is common for students to “miss educational milestones” and drop out of school early and particularly for girls, educational outcomes beyond the secondary level are low, according to Cross Catholic Outreach.