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Reach for Change and the Jacobs Foundation, two NGOs operating in Ghana have launched a two-year support program that envisions to positively influence the educational system in Ghana.

This collaborative initiative will support local social entrepreneurs in education to strengthen their innovative solutions, in order to improve educational outcomes for more children

Speaking at the launch of the event on Thursday at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, Solomon Twum, Country Manager Ghana, Reach for Change iterated the need to laying solid foundation, as one of the many ways to address the country’s educational challenges 

“Several initiatives, including private and public efforts have attempted to tackle many aspects of our educational challenges in Ghana. We believe that the solution to our educational challenges lay in creating a solid foundation of evidence based educational solutions which have a track record of measured social impact consistently over a period of time’’.

According to Solomon Twum, the need to employ collaborative approaches to addressing the issue has become imperative. “It is in this regard that we are seeking to offer tailored research based support and access to the Jacobs Foundation network, partnerships and resources in order to help refine these solutions and prepare them for replication throughout the country”,

He further bemoaned the issue of poor educational outcomes and low enrollment levels in primary education especially amongst girls and children with disabilities.

“While many current social entrepreneurs in Ghana strive to innovate and create effective education solutions, they are facing a number of common challenges affecting their development and scaling, such as limited access to funding, political barriers within the education sector, difficulties in measuring and proving their impact, and a need for stronger strategic leadership within their organizations’

Co-Lead of the Learning Minds Portfolio at the Jacobs Foundation,Laura Metzger, opined the need to create an enabling environment  for social entrepreneurs to thrive .  “Jointly with Reach for Change, we are thrilled to support education-focused social entrepreneurs in Ghana in strengthening the positive impact of their solutions. We also want to leverage our networks and resources to provide social entrepreneurs a platform to amplify their reach and inspire other education stakeholders in Ghana and beyond”,

According to her, the collaboration with the Jacobs Foundation will create a tailored support program that meets the specific needs of the social entrepreneurs and their organization's development journey. The partnership will support the development of new learning models, leadership pathways and global networks. The selected social entrepreneurs will also receive grant funding to execute their solutions.