Published on June 2 2025
Introduction
In a modest classroom in Suhum, Madam Abena Yeboah’s day begins not with numbers or textbooks, but with wiping away tears, calming emotional outbursts, and looking out for signs of neglect among her students.
“I trained to teach mathematics,” she says with a quiet sigh. “But now, my mornings are spent comforting hungry children and addressing challenges that go far beyond the classroom syllabus.”
Across Ghana’s Eastern Region, in rural districts like Suhum and Ayensuano, teachers are carrying more than chalk and textbooks. They are increasingly stepping in as caregivers, counselors, and providers. As parental involvement fades, the classroom has become a refuge for children left behind by poverty, migration, and fractured family structures.
Disappearing Parents, Disconnected Homes
For many families, survival has become the top priority. Economic hardship forces parents to focus on feeding their children, often at the expense of their educational involvement. Rural-urban migration has also seen many children left in the care of elderly grandparents or relatives, some of whom are too frail or illiterate to support schoolwork.
“I want to help my children with school,” says Akua Mensima, a single mother in Ayensuano, “but I leave home before sunrise to sell at the market and return after dark. If I don’t work, we don’t eat.”
In communities where both time and resources are stretched thin, the responsibility to raise and mold children is gradually shifting from the family to the teacher.
Burnout in the Classroom
For educators like Mr. Kwame Mensah, the changes are overwhelming.
“It used to be a partnership,” he says. “Parents cared. They came to meetings. Now, we’re expected to handle everything, from feeding hungry students to addressing trauma from unstable homes. And then somehow still teach.”
The pressure is mounting. Teachers are increasingly exhausted and emotionally drained. The demands of Ghana’s new Standard-Based Curriculum, which requires detailed planning and delivery, are often sidelined by the immediate social and emotional needs of their students.
Classroom time is now divided between education and crisis management, leaving learning outcomes hanging in the balance.
A Ray of Hope
Despite the bleak picture, some changes are beginning to take root. Through targeted interventions such as Savana Signatures’ “Rural Youth in Ghana Catching up on Education” project, communities are slowly beginning to re-engage with schools.
The project has conducted 45 community discussions involving over 850 parents and supported the formation of five Child Protection Committees. Since its implementation, teachers in targeted schools report increased parental presence and a notable reduction in classroom stress.
“We didn’t realize how our absence was affecting our children,” one parent confessed after a sensitisation session. “Now, I try to attend meetings and check on their homework. It’s a small start, but it matters.”
Rebuilding the Bridge
Education stakeholders are calling for stronger community-school partnerships. Suggestions include establishing active Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), organising family engagement days at schools, creating mentorship programmes for young or single parents and hosting public awareness campaigns to highlight the role of parents in education
“This isn’t about pointing fingers,” says a local education officer. “It’s about bringing parents back into the picture. Teachers can’t raise these children alone.”
Beyond the Curriculum
As the day winds down in Ayensuano, Madam Abena finishes her lesson notes. Today, she has fed a student who hadn’t eaten in two days, comforted another with visible signs of neglect, and settled a dispute between siblings, all before starting her class.
“I love teaching,” she says. “But I can’t keep doing everything. No teacher can.”
Her voice, like that of many others, is not one of anger, but of quiet desperation. Because when the bell rings in Suhum and Ayensuano, it doesn’t just summon children to class, it calls an entire community to action.
By: Prince Kwame Tamakloe/Ralf – Savana Signatures
