“It Takes a Village to Raise a Child”

By Joe Kingsley Eyiah, OCT, Brookview M.S., Toronto-Canada

Children are undoubtedly the greatest assets of any developing community. Their welfare therefore becomes a big concern for the community. Parents are the first help to children in their pursuit of success in life which include their success at school. Many, if not all parents/wardens would like to see their children succeed at the end of the academic year and get promoted to the next grade or graduate with honors. Teachers share the same dreams for their students. To ensure that our dreams come true we must take note of all that go into constituting the assessment of the children’s academic work. Unlike our school days of yesteryears, final written tests/examinations ONLY do not determine the success or otherwise of students during the academic year.

The academic assessment of students is not solely based on their performances in quizzes and tests. Homework plays a major role in determining the academic assessment teachers do on the students throughout the academic year. It is therefore very imperative to support our children’s efforts to do homework. Many students would achieve higher academic levels if they would take their homework serious. And many students would take their homework serious if parents would support their efforts to do homework. As an educator and a teacher for over 32 years, experience tells me that parents and guardians who care about their children’s education do not neglect their responsibility of supporting their children’s efforts to do homework. As parents, do we ask our children about their homework at the end of the day? Do we welcome questions on how to do the homework? Do we at sometimes sit with our children through their homework? Do we even create favorable environment at home for our children to do homework? The problem may be that not all parents have the time and the capacity to assist their children with their homework. This is where the community steps in!
The need to set up a volunteer-based homework club in our Ghanaian-Canadian community within the Greater Toronto Area has become very crucial as the population of children in the Ghanaian community is growing astronomically over the years. Also, for the fact that most of our children joining us from Ghana in recent years battle with the Canadian style of teaching and learning at schools! The learning environment here is overwhelming to some of them. Our children definitely need community help and mentoring by some role-models among us. This resource project/program therefore aims at ensuring students success in our community.
The community-based homework and mentoring program nicknamed "GCAO Homework Club" has already began at10 Belfield Road, Etobicoke (Apostles Continuation Church), a location which is well-known to many Ghanaian parents in the Greater Toronto Area. Volunteers from the Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario (GCAO) spend time from 3pm to 5pm each Sunday to assist registered students between the ages of 6years and 18years mainly in the areas of literacy and numeracy plus mentorship. Interested parents can still register their children in the program by calling the organizers on 416-357-7237 or 647-283-3865. Enthusiastic, community-minded people with clean police report who will like to get things done are also welcomed to volunteer at the program!