iREAD

Location: Eastern Region, Ghana

Sponsoring Organization: Worldreader

Launch Date: October 2010

Number of devices: 550 3G and Wi-Fi Kindles

Students and teachers: 400

Students’ grade level: Primary 4 to Senior High School 2

Types of books: Textbooks, storybooks, and reference materials

Deployment model: Each student has an e-reader

Do students take devices home: Yes

Other notable points: Worldreader continue to pilot new ideas directly at six schools, measure reading improvements and share what we learn with our partners. Students in two classrooms received solar charging cases in June 2013, as part of an alternative power solution pilot program.

Research: See our reports.

OrphanAid Africa

Location:  Ayenyah (near Dodowa), Eastern Region, Ghana

Sponsoring Organization: OrphanAid Africa

Launch Date: March 2010

Number of devices: 20 initially; now five 3G e-readers being used in a library model

Students’ grade level:  All grade levels and ages

Types of books: Storybooks and reference materials

Deployment model: Initial classroom trial with 20 students and each student had an e-reader. Transitioned in April 2010 to a library model at the community center.

Do students take devices home: No

Other notable points: Solar power for charging, and windmill-powered Internet.

Research: Read our trial report for a more thorough overview.

iREAD 2: All Children Reading

Location: Suhum Municipalities and Ayensuano Districts, Ghana

Sponsoring Organization: World Vision, USAID, and AusAID (All Children Reading grant)

Launch Date: February 2013

Approximate number of students and teachers: 620

Number of devices: 800 Wi-Fi Kindles

Students’ grade level: Primary 1-3

Types of books: Textbooks, storybooks and reference materials (Eng and Twi)

Deployment model: Each student has an e-reader

Students take devices home: Yes

Other notable points: This is a research study involving four treatment schools and four control schools. Literacy skills are measured using the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) test. Additional components of this project include teacher trainings on literacy instruction (through Worldreader’s partnership with the Olinga Foundation), after school reading activities, and regular accountability committee meetings.

Pavuu Baptist Primary School

Location: Lawra, Upper West Region, Ghana

Sponsoring Organization: Savannah Education Trust

Launch Date: June 2014

Approximate number of students and teachers: 4 teachers and 90 students

Number of devices: 100 Wi-Fi Kindles

Students’ grade level: Primary 1-4

Types of books: Textbooks, storybooks and reference materials

Deployment model: Individual

Students take devices home: No

The Story: Pavuu is one of the most deprived areas in Ghana. The area has no public school. The Ghana Education service has attempted twice to set up schools but both failed due to long distances between the schools and the population. (Children had to walk between 30 to 50km to get the nearest school.) Savannah Education Trust saw this problem and decided to build Pavuu Baptist Primary. The school serves children in Pavuu and settlements in an area of 5 to 20km. But building the school has proven not to be enough. Before Worldreader the school had an average of one textbook per class, thanks to Savannah Education Trust these students now have access to 10,000 books.

AWO MEMORIAL INSET SCHOOL

Location:Sogakope, Eastern Region, Ghana

Sponsoring Organization: Jeff Strang

Launch Date: September 2014

Approximate number of students and teachers: 300 students and 15 teachers

Number of devices: 25 Wi-Fi Kindles

Students’ grade level: Primary To Junior High

Types of books: Textbooks, Storybooks and Reference Materials

Deployment model: Library

Students take devices home: No

The Story: Dr. David Dogbe, the school’s proprietor and the E-Reader Project Manager, established Awo Memorial Inset School to improve girl’s education in honor of Awo Tokleo. In honoring her memory, the school has a 75 percent female student population and school management body. Now, through the Worldreader Program, girls in the Sogakope community have set their eyes on social empowerment.

Dzelukope, Mangoase, and Saviefe Primary Schools

Location:Volta Region, Ghana

Sponsoring Organization: Pencils of Promise

Launch Date: June 2014

Approximate number of students and teachers: 300 students and 18 teachers

Number of devices: 300 Wi-Fi Kindles

Students’ grade level: Primary

Types of books: Textbooks, Storybooks and Reference Materials

Deployment model: Individual

Students take devices home: Yes

The Story: Through a collaboration with Pencils of Promise (PoP), 300 e-readers with 30,000 e-books were deployed into the Mangoase, Dzelukope and Saviefe Primary Schools in the Volta Region of Ghana. Each school received 100 e-readers with 10,000 e-books. Pencils of Promise contributed to the construction of the school buildings and now with e-readers students have a great opportunity to begin the road towards literacy.

Achievers Library

Location: Greater Accra Region, Ghana

Sponsoring Organization: David Thacher and Family

Launch Date: November 2014

Approximate number of students and teachers: 150 students and 3 teachers

Number of devices: 25 Wi-Fi Kindles

Students’ grade level: Primary to Senior High School

Types of books: Storybooks, Textbooks, and Reference Materials

Deployment model: Library

Students take devices home: No

The Story: The Achievers Book Club is an independent Ghanaian non-profit organization, with a mission to ensure all girls in the slums of Ghana have access to education. Achievers Book Club aims to educate the community and to create strong awareness that early marriage is not the solution to the acute poverty communities face. Rather, allowing girls to reach a higher education so they can seek better economic opportunities will empower girls and help improve the communities around them.The Achievers Book Club currently supports over 150 girls in their education, identifying vulnerable children, raising funds for them to be able to attend school and providing educational materials. They also run skills training programs, organize excursions and raise awareness of the issues faced by girls, working with parents to help prevent abuse, sexual exploitation and forced marriage.

Tuskegee International School

Location: Greater Accra

Sponsoring Organization: Skip Klintworth & The Dreamweaver Foundation

Launch Date: October 2014

Approximate number of students and teachers: 250 students and 5 teachers

Number of devices: 50 Wi-Fi Kindles

Students’ grade level: Primary and Junior High School

Types of books: Textbooks, storybook, and reference materials

Deployment model: School Library

Students take devices home: No

The Story: Charles Yarfoh, the Director of Tuskegee International School, having been denied education to head cattle in his early childhood established Tuskegee International School in 1998 to support the less privileged. Taking into account the high number of single parents in his community and their average income level, he decided to structure the school to meet parents halfway in the payment of school fees, and in exceptional cases provide full scholarships to pay the school fees for committed children and parents.

St. Mary’s Anglican School

Location: Akweley, Kasoa, Central Region

Sponsoring Organization: International Book Project (IBP)

Launch Date: May 2015

Approximate number of students: 3,000

Number of devices: 120 WiFi Kindles

Age Range: Primary – Junior High School

Types of books: Storybooks and Reference Materials (in English, Twi, and Fante)

Deployment model: School Library

Students take devices home: No

The Story: St. Mary’s Anglican School is the only public basic school located at Akweley, a suburb of Kasoa in the Central Region of Ghana. The school consists of 2 Primary and 2 Junior High Schools sharing the same compound but with different administrative set up. The school provides basic education to the students from its catchment area. Before getting in touch with IBP, there were not adequate library books for the students to read. However, having links with IBP and Worldreader have provided a solution to accessing more reading and reference materials through the supply of traditional books and E-reader.

Neesim School and Library

Location: Gushegu District, Northern Region

Sponsoring Organization: Project Share and ROPE

Launch Date: October 2015

Approximate number of students: 115

Number of devices: 50 WiFi Kindles

Age Range: Primary 4 – Junior High 1

Types of books: Storybooks and Reference Materials

Deployment model: School Library

Students take devices home: No

The Story: In December 2009 Project Share set up Neesim Primary School. The school aims to meet the educational needs of the three surrounding villages, and also to function as a model school for quality education in the district. The school is focused on local language literacy, teacher training, and building foundational skills. More recently, in September 2015, Project Share set up a library in the primary school thanks to a grant from the UK charity ROPE. The e-reading program will be set up for Primary and beginning Junior High School students to participate in, and the devices will be held in newly opened library, which will soon be accessible to the community as well.

Pencils of Promise

Location: Volta Region

Sponsoring Organization: Pencils of Promise

Launch Date: June 2014

Communities Impacted: Students at 28 schools across Volta region

Number of devices: 3,200 Kindles

Age Range: Lower and Upper Primary

Types of books: Ewe-language textbooks, decodable readers, phonics materials, storybooks

Deployment model: Individual 1:1

Students take devices home: Yes

The Story: Pencils of Promise (PoP) is a non-profit which builds schools and promotes holistic education in developing countries. They have currently deployed e-readers in 28 schools in the Volta Region of Ghana. This partnership with Worldreader began with an initial introduction of 300 devices, which scaled up to a total of 3,200 devices a little over a year later. PoP has seen a steady increase in the students’ literacy and reading comprehension, and has conducted monitoring and evaluation surveys and tests to measure the impact of the e-reading programs.

Dordiak Educational Complex

Location: Adukrom, Eastern Region

Sponsoring Organization: Love Rocks and Dutch Chapters

Launch Date: October 2015

Approximate number of students: 400

Number of devices: 50 Kindle 7’s

Age Range: Primary and Junior High School

Types of books: Storybooks and reference materials

Deployment model: School Library

Students take devices home: No

The Story: The primary aim of LoveRocks is youth empowerment. They aim to connect the youth to their communities, inspire the youth to get involved in the development of their communities, and support the ideas of young people to improve their communities and help one another actually bring their dreams to life. They support the students at Dordiak Educational Complex in Adukrom.

Awaso Academy International

Location: Awaso, Western Region

Sponsoring Organization: Awaso Hope Foundation

Launch Date: October 2015

Approximate number of students: 200

Number of devices: 50 Kindle 7’s

Age Range: Lower and Upper Primary

Types of books: Leveled readers, storybooks, local content

Deployment model: Classroom

Students take devices home: No

The Story: Awaso Academy International, built in 2010 and supported by Awaso Hope Foundation, is a private, independent, K-9 elementary school that provides high quality education to the children of Awaso. It aims to stop the cycle of poverty in the region through holistic education, including the introduction of e-readers, as well as a sustainable agriculture and livestock program.

Throne of Grace and Mums Memorial Academy

Location: Accra

Sponsoring Organization: Edify

Launch Date: October 2015

Approximate number of students: 200

Number of devices: 100 Kindle 7’s

Age Range: Lower and Upper Primary

Types of books: Textbooks, reference materials, storybooks

Deployment model: Classroom

Students take devices home: No

The Story: Edify is a Christian charity focused on educating the world’s poor in hopes of bringing opportunities, employment, and empowerment to the developing world. In Ghana and across the globe, they work with low-cost private schools and are determined to support these schools’ students with further educational opportunities, as well as improve the schools’ financial sustainability.

Asiafo Amanfro Community Centre (The Akaa Project)

Location: Asiafo Amanfro, Eastern Region

Sponsoring Organization: Kumon Centers of Albany, Rockridge, and Pleasant Hill

Launch Date: May 2016

Approximate number of students & patrons: 130+

Number of devices: 25 Kindle 7’s

Age Range: Lower and Upper Primary, Secondary, Adult

Types of books: Textbooks, reference materials, storybooks, early readers in the local language

Deployment model: Community Centre/Library

Students take devices home: No

The Story: As a nonprofit organization, the Akaa Project works alongside families in the village of Akaa to alleviate poverty and promote self reliance. They focus on strategies to improve the health, education, and financial well being of the village families. The e-readers are coming to a newly constructed “rammed earth” community centre, which will be utilized by the teachers and students of the local school, as well as other community members.

Al-Waleed Basic School

Location: Nima, Greater Accra

Sponsoring Organization: Humble Bundle

Launch Date: Fall 2015

Communities Impacted: 150 students and 10 teachers

Number of devices: 50 Kindle E-readers

Age Range: Lower and Upper Primary

Types of books: Textbooks, storybooks, and reference materials

Deployment model: Classroom

Students take devices home: No

The Story: Al-Banat Islamic Girls Basic School is the only school in the biggest slum in Accra, Nima, focused on nurturing girls and championing the girl child education in a community that doesn’t always see the need for girls to be educated. A kind donation from Humble Bundle is bringing the girls in the school a Worldreader BLUE Box program, which will give these girls the textbooks they need for their education, as well as and many women-empowering stories.