There is no question La’Angum Learning Center has had a huge impact on the remote communities it serves, but how good a school is it? From the start, the PAMBE Ghana board intended for the school to deliver measurable excellence but has struggled to identify meaningful ways to assess our educational outcomes.
One major stumbling block is that the Ghana Education Service (GES) does not administer any standardized assessment test until completion of the 9th grade. We plan to compare our graduates’ outcomes to those from other schools, but this is still three years off, and doesn’t speak to how our students are mastering their own grade school curriculum.
GES does provide curriculum guidelines for the elementary grades. LLC has incorporated these achievement levels into our curriculum development so that our graduates may make a smooth transition into the GES-run junior high school system. Our teachers assess student mastery on an ongoing basis. This, however, does not provide insight into how effective our unique program is compared to the traditional GES approach to elementary education.
Earlier this year we were disappointed to find ourselves in a blind alley after discovering a report based on a recent grade school assessment test developed by USAID. This report compared student mastery of certain benchmarks in schools across Ghana. We hoped to obtain a copy of this test and administer it to our students so that we could produce an effective comparison of LLC’s performance against GES outcomes regionally and nationally. Unfortunately, the test itself has proved impossible to locate. We will continue to pursue this through our contacts within GES and at USAID. For now, however, we must move on.
Through PAMBE Ghana’s relationship with the regional GES office, Alice was able to coordinate development and administration of a 6th grade mastery test, designed by 6th grade teachers to evaluate four benchmarks: English, math, science and citizenship.
The resulting data are very promising: LLC students outperformed students at two GES (public) schools and performed equally well as those at another local private school. LLC has the highest score of the combined benchmarks: 185. The other private school achieved the next highest score of 150, while the two GES schools received total scores of 119 and 108. The highest scoring LLC student was a girl who is the first in her family to ever attend school. She scored a total of 295.
LLC students were particularly strong in science and math (see graphs showing scores of individual students). Our students’ average science score was 57, followed by the private school with 43, and scores of 40 and 38 for the GES schools. LLC’s average math score was 42 – the next highest score of any of the other schools was 26.
This was a first step at creating a meaningful, reliable assessment tool that could be administered each year. We have learned from this experience, and will make changes in the test and in how it is administered. We see that our students have room to improve. We will address that in our ongoing work with teachers and curriculum.
PAMBE Ghana analyzed these test results in consultation with Denise Caudill, a former World Neighbors staff member who has lived and worked extensively in Western Africa. Caudill currently consults with nonprofits. Our Board’s curriculum committee—which includes certified Montessori teachers, college professors and other education professionals—will use the results to provide additional teacher training opportunities, classroom materials and curriculum oversight.
 AT&T Community Network volunteers displaying American soul food
Thank you to all our supporters and the volunteers who made the PAMBE Ghana Fest a wonderful success: musicians Jahruba Lambeth and Steve McLinn, the staff and cooks of St. Paul's Cathedral, AT&T Community Network Volunteers, the raffle donors and the PAMBE Ghana Global Market volunteers.
 Steve and Jahruba enliven the evening with their music  Hank and Joan Bowen offering food typical of Barbados
 I am Mary Ayaba. I was born in 1989 at Gambaga in Northern Region to Mr. and Mrs. Ayaba. I have two brothers: Peter and Noah.
I had my basic education at the Presbyterian Primary and Junior High Schools in Gambaga. I continued my secondary education at Nalerigu Senior High (NASS) as a General Arts student.
Life after Senior High School turned very difficult for me. My father died prematurely, which brought a lot of problems to me and my siblings. In 2008, I left Northern Region and went down south in search for a better life. By the grace of the Merciful God, I had admission into Global Professional Studies to pursue a course in Health and Safety Management.
Since childhood, I have had the desire to be a health educator. In 2013, I got the chance to be trained as a first aid trainer. I did my one year national service at the Ghana Red Cross Society in Bolgatanga. There I was a team leader and trained drivers on first aid and emergency procedures.
After the national service, life got tough again. Finding work was hard to come by and depended on who you know. I was very happy to be employed as a teaching assistant at PAMBE Ghana La’angum Learning Centre. I am very grateful for the opportunity to be a teacher and a student as well. I am learning a lot at La’angum Learning Centre, and it is making who Mary Ayaba is today and will be tomorrow.
 Siisu Mumuni has a bachelor’s degree in history (B.A History), from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Thus, he considers himself a Social Scientist. He also has a certificate in computer technology, which complements his social science degree.
Siisu lives in Langbinsi with his extended family of 13, which includes his Mother and Father, 8 siblings, and his wife and a son.
Siisi has been interested in teaching since childhood. During his high school and university years, he used all his vacation time in doing voluntary teaching at Frukan Junior High. He did his National Service as a teacher in Tuna Senior High in 2012/2013 academic year. He is currently the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) teacher in La’angum Learning Centre.
Siisu is a very creative and handy man. He able to translate what he sees or reads concretely with the hand.
Siisu aspires to be a social reformer by analyzing things in the theological perspective and by being a good example in his daily life. He says, “when the body relaxes, the mechanism of the body also relaxes”. He therefore keeps himself busy with subsistence farming.
Siisu is sociable, friendly and embraces views from other religious faiths. He uses these to strengthen his faith and love for everyone because he believes that friendship is one of the most important values in human life.
 The La’Angum school is helpful to us in Bumboazio here because I used to go round looking for somebody to read or identify and sort our hospital cards for us. Now, I have 3 children in my house that can do that. I have an older child who has been in a different local Langbinsi school for four years now but cannot read. I want to plead with you to accept her to join your school. One other thing I like about this school is the food you serve the children. Our children are healthy and always smiling when they come back from school unlike their brothers and sisters in the Langbinsi schools. After school, they are now used to sitting down with us and telling stories about school, teachers and friends. One thing I want to ask is to add 7th, 8th, and 9th grades to La’Angum school. This will help our students to pass the Basic Education Certificate Examination at the end of 9th grade.
Thank you to the marvelous donors who helped us purchase a Motor King!
 On Tuesday, our Motor King arrived, all assembled and ready with drums for hauling water. There was so much excitement and many teachers tried their hand in the school compound, and found out very quickly that driving a Motor King is quite different from a motorcycle. Wuni Baani, the Lunch Program Coordinator will be in charge. With Charles’ help and local entrepreneur with expertise in these vehicles, I drew up a simple contract /guide for the Motor King driver/caretaker. He’s practicing this weekend and will have scheduled time with students to bring water to school.
 Robert Issahaku Bugri is a gentleman of 29 years from Samini, a village northwest of Langbinsi. Robert is the sixth and last born of his parents. All are boys. Robert is the only son of his parents who had access to formal education; all his five elder brothers joined their father in his farming activities.
Robert completed the 3-year Diploma in Basic Education (DBE) University of Cape Coast distance education programme, with support of PAMBE Ghana.
Robert began teaching at the PAMBE Ghana La’angum school in September, 2009. He has taught all the primary classes except P6. He began helping other teachers to guide the KG1 (pre-K) students in his first year, then KG2 (K), and P1 to P5. He is currently the P5 teacher.
Robert is married to a young lady by name Felicia Ape with two children Frank and Joana. Frank is a P2 student in LLC. Joana will start school next year.
Robert and his wife are true believers in God through the Christian faith. Robert has planted a Church in Bumboazio community, called Grace Community Church. Robert is the lead pastor and goes there every Sunday morning to preach and Wednesday evenings for prayers and thanksgiving. Ten of the LLC students and one teacher are among the members of the church.
Robert has so many plans towards the future. He will be adding and updating this biography and sharing as time goes.
 Ibrahim Bukari Issah is a teacher in La’angum Learning Centre. He is 27-year old and a native of Bumboazio. He is from an extended family of 15 brothers and sisters of the same father. He lives in the family compound.
He has a Bachelors degree from the University for Development Studies in Integrated Development option in Economics and Entrepreneurship Studies. Ibrahim is also a farmer who is interested in poultry birds.
He has participated in the activities of PAMBE Ghana since 2008. He was a volunteer teaching assistant in La’angum Learning Centre in 2008/2009 school year. He was also a facilitator in EQUALL (Education Quality for All), a USAID project that supported literacy and numeracy in mother tongue for out of school children in the rural areas.
In 2013/2014, he did his national service at Zabzugu Senior High School after completing his degree course.
He came back to PAMBE Ghana in September, 2014. He is currently a grade three teacher. Ibrahim has participated in many Montessori workshops and has a keen interest in learning and becoming a real Montessori teacher.
When he is not reading or working with his loved pupils in the classroom, he joins the school football team to play soccer. He also plays volleyball using advantage of his height. He is a husband, and a father to Hafiz, a student in KG1 of La’angum Learning Centre. He is waiting anxiously for the arrival of the second child.
 Mary Awinbota-Abotawine Azure is my full name. Awinbota-Abotawine means God loves us and we love Him. I was born on March 9th 1983 to Mr and Mrs Samuel Azure Achinchine. God has blessed my parents with nine children. I am number six. We all live in Langbinsi, a much bigger village near Bumboazio where I teach.
I married a man of God named Martin Aduku in Nalerigu, about 20 miles from the La'angum Learning Centre. God has blessed us with a son, Franklin Behiwin, one year after our wedding. Franklin is three years and eight months this November. My husband and I are doing ministry work at the Nalerigu Second Baptist Church. He is a pastor in the church and I am a teacher.
I was a volunteer teacher in a school in Langbinsi before joining PAMBE Ghana. I was part of the founding of the La’angum Learning Centre in 2008 and have been teaching there since. In fact, I am very proud and happy to be part of the PAMBE Ghana. I have learned a lot and gained much experience in my teaching profession, especially the Montessori Method of Education.
I completed the 3-year Diploma in Basic Education (DBE) from the University of Winneba’s sandwich programme last year.
This is a bit of Mary Awinbota-Abotawine Azure. Thank you.
 Kindergarten teacher
I am a 31-year old woman from Langbinsi. I was born and brought up in a Christian home with a relatively small family. I am second of five children.
I did my elementary education – both primary and junior high school - in Langbinsi Roman Catholic (RC) education unit and completed in 1997. I attended Bolga Girls Senior High from 1998 to 2000. After completing high school I was fortunate to be employed by PAMBE Ghana as a classroom teacher in 2009. Three years later, PAMBE Ghana sponsored me and two other colleague teachers to do diploma in basic education (DBE) at the university of Cape Coast by distance learning. I successful completed the course and now hold a DBE diploma.
I love teaching children. When I was in junior high school I started teaching Sunday school and enjoyed it. I am married and have two beautiful daughters, Lovina and Lordina. We live together with my husband in Langbinsi.
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