J-Ann is a growing education centre of excellence for disadvantaged children. We have overcome many challenges in the years since 2012, but regrettably they never really go away, despite all efforts. We see many cases of young children struggling with their mental health and wellbeing and raise awareness of teenage pregnancies and other career limiting challenges.
The most constant factors hindering giving more children a chance for success in life, are:

Inadequate facilities
Despite moving to the new premises in 2012 with a great leap forward in infrastructure and sanitation, our children are still not learning in optimum surroundings. Typically noise insulation remains poor between learner groups, kitchen facilities limited, washrooms a major health hazard and challenges securing the buildings a concern. Stairs to a much desired second floor remain a concrete flight of fantasy. Access to the school is frequently seriously hampered by poor road conditions. Costs of services put pressure on our limited budget.

Lack of sustainable funding
Funding is an inherent challenge as we often struggle with the balance of delivering education with so many other demands on our income. Despite our founder Joseph’s initial personal savings, expansion in the school roll led to us introduce a “feeding fee” (2 GHC/0.5 USD per pupil each day) to keep operational. This only applies to those able to pay. These fees help us meet immediate expenses together with donations in kind. Construction at Medie has halted and any other, much required improvements on hold. This is position is not sustainable over time if we are to meet our ambitious programme to positively impact the lives of more children.

Difficult conditions for teachers
Pay for J-Ann teachers is not comparable to regular, national schools. We simply do not have the funds to achieve parity here. As a result, it is difficult to attract and retain the best quality teachers. This puts more strain on our existing teacher community as they deal daily with too large class groups, high workload and more preparation time. Pupils suffer as the teacher has less time for personal attention. Absent teachers put additional strain on delivering excellent education, leading to syllabus gaps amongst the learners.