GhanaWeb Special: Female teacher turns barber after coronavirus forced schools' shutdown

As the days drew nearer for her to complete her tertiary education with many others, Ghana began recording cases of the Novel Coronavirus, putting fear into many.

As the country’s case count increased, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ordered the closure of all schools in the country which was followed by a lockdown of some parts of the country.

Tertiary institutions resorted to e-learning and Joyce Nana Ama Kumi, like many other final year students across the country, had to sit for the final examinations virtually.

Weeks passed and life was gradually returning to normal, tertiary institutions were allowed to reopen and complete the academic year and fresh graduates were eagerly awaiting their national service postings.

Joyce, who studied educational psychology at the University of Cape Coast as a distant student, was looking forward to practicing what she had learnt in the classroom as a teacher but had to put that on hold after the president announced the remainder of the 2020 academic year.

Not willing to stay idle at home, Joyce who says she has a passion for arts and crafts, decided to go into barbering.

“I’m good when I use my hand so I said ‘ok why don’t I enter into barbering’. I’m learning, I can barber and I’m still learning,” she told GhanaWeb in an exclusive interview.

Aside making use of her time with this skill acquisition, Joyce is looking forward to imparting what she learns, as well as her makeup skills, to junior and senior high school graduates in her neighbourhood when they are waiting for their results.

“There are some people who can do something that are creative but because everything is about school, they’ll also be in school so if you can pinpoint some children who are creative, with the makeup I learnt and the barbering, I think I can teach them.”

Find out more about Joyce Nana Ama Kumi in her full interview on GhanaWeb Special below: