00:00Two schools, two worlds, but one shared dream, education.
00:05Here in Africa, the journey of learning takes different paths,
00:08from crumbling classrooms to state-of-the-art facilities.
00:12The difference is huge, but how does the experiences compare?
00:17My name is Chelsea in Ghana.
00:23How do you get to school and how far do you travel every day?
00:27It's roughly 45 minutes to an hour.
00:30Sometimes I buy the car, sometimes I walk.
00:32Many girls across Africa face a lot of challenges when it comes to education.
00:37Sometimes it could be culture, sometimes teenage pregnancy, and early child marriage.
00:42Do you feel lucky to go to school?
00:44And how is the situation like for girls your age in your communities?
00:48I feel lucky because my parents really, really value education.
00:52But I also do have friends who don't go to school
00:54because their parents think the school isn't necessary to them.
00:57And also, too, some are pregnant and they can't send their pregnancy to school.
01:00So I feel lucky being in school.
01:02Share with me a typical day in your life.
01:04I mean, in the morning, so you see, how is it like?
01:07I wake up at 4.30.
01:09I have to sweep the compound, wash some dishes, then take my bath.
01:13After taking my bath, get my breakfast and set off to school.
01:16By 6.00, 6.30, I'm at school.
01:19School closes at 4.00.
01:20So by 4.30, I'm home.
01:22When I come back home, I have to help my parents in cooking
01:25and also to wash some dishes being used to eat.
01:28After that, study for an hour or 45 minutes, then go to bed.
01:32If you were to change one thing from your daily routine, what would they be?
01:35I would prefer doing less of washing of utensils.
01:38And also, too, I wish there would be a school bus where it would be at my door
01:41to take me to school in the morning and bring me back home
01:44because I hate walking to school each and every day.
01:47Having interacted with a girl in an urban school,
01:50do you see any differences between her and yourself?
01:53Yes, I have.
01:53And I really, really saw a lot of differences between her and me
01:57because I really, really like the part that she talked about,
02:00the facility she has in her school.
02:02An ultra-modern library where they go in to read storybooks
02:06and also to documentaries.
02:08But in my school, there's none.
02:10So I wish we had something like that that could improve our learning skills
02:14and also to improve our education.
02:22I would like to know about the things you like about your school
02:25and the things you don't like about SOS.
02:28SOS is a boarding slash academic school.
02:32So I like the hostile environment.
02:36However, I don't like the strict rules that they have in the school
02:40because I'm not able to act freely and do whatever I want.
02:44When it comes to the academics, I really like the whole curriculum,
02:48how you're able to be creative
02:50and foster your critical thinking skills, your leadership skills.
02:57However, it's quite stressful.
02:58Do you have any friends from other secondary schools?
03:02Yes.
03:03And do they tell you the experiences that they have in their schools
03:05compared to yours?
03:07Do you feel you are lucky?
03:08From what I've heard from them,
03:10they view our school as a very posh school.
03:13We have a lot of resources.
03:16But then I think academics is similar,
03:18but our workload seems to me, it seems to be more.
03:22I see students from other parts of Africa.
03:25How do you feel studying with them?
03:27Currently in my school, we have over 15 nationalities
03:31and the school is very Pan-African-focused.
03:34We're a Pan-African school.
03:36Our motto is Knowledge on the Surface of Africa.
03:38So we get to, we're very open-minded
03:40and we're very open-minded towards other people's cultures, values
03:44and what's, how they live and their lifestyles.
03:47Our school also, we have this thing called National Day,
03:53where you get to learn about various cultures,
03:56learn various dances, try various foods
03:58from different African countries
04:00and also other international countries.
04:03So it makes us very open-minded to the diverse community we have.
04:10Should we be worried about the gap in assessing education in Ghana?
04:14Yes, we have to be worried
04:15because it has a ripple effect on the quality of educational standards.
04:22Irrespective of the target we set for ourselves,
04:26the disparity in terms of resources,
04:30in terms of infrastructure
04:32and the other things you need for us to achieve these targets,
04:37indeed, we have to be worried.
04:40And you know, education is also tied to
04:42attainment of national growth and national development.
04:47And so if we are not able to address or break that gap in education
04:52in terms of provision of resources,
04:54what it means is that at a national level,
04:57the development that we have been talking about
05:01for far too long will not be able to achieve this
05:04and so we have to be worried about it.
05:06How soon do you think we can bridge this gap
05:08between the quality of education?
05:10What sort of collaboration can we have
05:13between the government on one side,
05:15the community leaders on the other side
05:17and then these non-governmental organisations
05:21also in the area of education?
05:25I think that's the way to go
05:27and that is how we must strategise
05:30in order to bridge this gap
05:32between provision of resources
05:34and then the inequality that exists in education.
05:39All right, no matter where we teenagers get our education,
05:43we deserve the best chance to succeed in life.
05:46Thanks so much for watching,
05:48but let's continue with this discussion
05:51on how to ensure education is more equal for all in Africa.
05:56My name is Chelsea in Ghana.
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