Home » Current Programs

Manye Academy, Kpone’s Primary School

Students working on art projects to share stories and interests about themselves. Manye combines traditional elements of Ghanaian schooling with creative learning experiences.

The Manye Foundation’s primary school not only offers classes but also cultivates non-traditional learning by recognizing that the best education occurs everywhere in life.

The most important program offered by the Manye Foundation is a quality primary education to anyone in the Kpone Barrier area through its school, Manye Academy. The school serves as a centerpoint for Manye’s service in the village.

Students not only attend school during school hours, but come to the school compound to learn beyond the classroom, receive tutoring, learn the computer, create artwork, ask questions about the world, or anything else they can dream of. Manye Academy follows the principle that effective learning can only occur when education is accessible, connected, and enjoyable.

Accessible
To make education accessible we ensure that school fees do not prevent anyone from attending. Similarly, we offer nutritious meals so students learn best. Furthermore, Manye helps students who cannot afford a school uniform and works with families to remove barriers to education. Most importantly, Manye is commitment to providing a quality education, free of charge, to all girls and boys. We understand the special pressures on girls, women, and children in the community, and we work with parents who may be hesitant to send a child to school.

Connected
In addition to regular school programs, Manye Academy offers after-school tutoring, computer classes, weekend recreational activities, a community library, health education, and encourages parent and family involvement. We also strive to connect with parents and businesses as a means of integrating education into the reality of life in the community. We make our traditional and non-traditional curriculum and activities relevant to student desires and needs. We focus on connecting classroom learning with practical skills and human curiousity in order to help children improve their lives as they see fit.

Enjoyable
The school works hard to make education fun, so students want to learn and teachers want to teach. We enhance Ghana’s basic curriculum using activities that give students the opportunity to express themselves through art, use their imagination, shape their environment using their own creativity, understand the world through the scientific method, all while ensuring they are learning the basics of reading, writing, and math.

We work hard not to be the ordinary Ghanaian primary school; instead, we strive to provide extraordinary resources and opportunities for learning.

School Details
Manye Academy has a student body of over 130 students. We offer nursery and grades one through six along with Form One of Junior Secondary School (JSS). Our basic curriculum includes Ghana’s national primary school curriculum, including Mathematics, English, Environmental Studies, General Science, and Religion and Moral Education. We encourage school uniforms to promote a healthy and clean environment, however, we understand the cost of a uniform can be prohibitive, so students who have appropriate attire are allowed to wear that. Otherwise, we provide a uniform
(or comparable) to students free of charge.

The school’s policy is to provide positive reinforcement for student accomplishments and good behavior. This has been quite successful and has nearly eliminated the use of the cane (which, although common in Ghana, is frowned upon at Manye. We believe the cane shows not the bad student, but rather the bad teacher). Similarly, we provide incentives for 100% attendance among students and teachers because absenteeism is so prevalent throughout Ghana (and many countries).

Originally we were housed in the home of the headmaster, however, the school quickly outgrew that home and has grown from essentially one class to full classes in every grade. Although at times classes have been forced to learn under the trees, we have built temporary classrooms as quickly as possible to accomodate our growth. Today we have begun construction on our first permanent school building through our Campaign for Our New Home. We would love for you to be a part of our new home.

View another current program.