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Volunteer in the News
8 Jun 2008
ARTICLE FROM NEWS GUARDIAN
Written by LIAM THOMPSON


A NORTH Shields teacher in training is hoping to travel to Ghana this summer in an attempt to improve the education given to hundreds of children.

Chris Counihan, 28, will be heading off to the west coast of Africa in June and is raising as much money as possible before then to maximise the amount of materials the Ghanaian school can buy.

Chris, from Coach Lane, is currently on placement at Meadowdale Middle School in Bedlington as part of a four-year degree.

"In England we spend £33 per pupil per week on education, over there its only £1.90."

"Access to learning is very limited," he said.
He will be teaching in the town of Besease and so far has raised more than £900 for the trip.

Mr Counihan held a bag pack event over the Christmas period and raised £375 in one event.

"The quality of the teaching over there is quite bad - it's very difficult to introduce new lesson plans because some of the teachers can't spell."

He said that class sizes can often exceed 65 pupils. In the longer term, Mr Counihan hopes to setup an exchange programme between schools in Ghana and England.

"We need to build links between the schools over there and the schools here," he said.

Mr Counihan will be working the overseas volunteer group Global Vision International who work in different communities for different purposes worldwide.

He is also building a website which he hopes will host regular video diaries from Ghana at www.sendmetoghana.moonfruit.com.
 
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