Ghana Society for the Protection & Care of Animals Programs
Humane Ed in the Classroom
Humane Education Programmes
Ghana SPCA sponsors Humane Education Programmes at the following schools: Trust Academy, North Legon School Complex, Amrahia AdMA Basic School, St. Dominic R/C Basic School, Kwabenya Atomic MA 5 Basic School, Kwabenya Atomic MA 3 and 4 Basic School, and in the Upper East Region of Ghana, at Upper East Doba Junior High School, Ayeltige JHS, Nyaruga JHS, Kukuruza JHS, and Awaah JHS.
GSPCA, with a grant from The Donkey Sanctuary, has developed and printed manuals on donkey welfare, and using the manuals, has trained 140 teachers in Tumu in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The teachers' manuals will enable them to train 5000 school children on donkey welfare. The training took place from 8-10 November 2022 in Tumu in the Sissala East District (see pictures below).
At Nyaruga JHS in the Bongo District, Upper East Region of Ghana, Humane Ed pupils were told to ask their parents to allow them to send donkeys to school for the Humane Ed lesson (November 2019). This was a fun way to learn about donkey behavior and care (1st 2 pictures). We hope to organize a donkey vet care clinic to get much-needed help for families' donkeys in this area. And then, at Kukuruza JHS in Upper East Region, a Humane Ed pupil brought his donkey and cart to the school and the students learned about the many uses and care of donkeys (last 2 pictures).
In November 2019, when GSPCA Humane Ed Specialist Aluizah Amasaba traveled to Upper East Region, he dropped in on Awaa Junior High School and found that the old HE teacher, Abileo, was transferred to another school--taking what he learned of HE with him. The new teacher, Yaw Boamah, was available though and worked with Aluizah, who mentored him, and watched as Aluizah taught an HE lesson (pictures below).
August 2019: As part of their GSPCA Humane Ed lessons, Trust Academy learned about rabies and how to prevent dog bites. Knowing the signs of rabies and when to and how to approach dogs is important for protecting children and adults of course, but it also protects dogs. Dogs are often suspected of having rabies when they don't actually have the disease-and they often end up being killed (not humanely). GSPCA showed the students a video about rabies-you can see by the looks on their faces that it's a very serious problem in Ghana.
The day before St. Dominic Roman Catholic School held a rabies clinic (see video on the home page), the students were treated to a rabies education program on 29 March 2019. It was a very animated program that drew huge interest from the student body, as you can see in the pictures below.
Samuel Kweku Aggrey at Kwabenya Atomic 5 Basic School is one of GSPCA's most creative Humane Ed teachers. In these pictures below (March 2019) he is guiding pupils through the HE lesson and really gets them to appreciate the importance of being kind to other living creatures.
The photos below (February 2019) are of one of GSPCA's newest Humane Ed Schools, Ayeltige Junior High School at Bolga East, Zuarungu in the Upper East Region of Ghana. The Humane Ed teachers there, Mohammed and Henrietta, were trained and are being mentored by GSPCA's Humane Ed Officer, Aluizah.
The other new GSPCA Humane Ed school for 2019 is Upper East Doba Junior High School, also in the Upper East Region of Ghana. In these pictures below, the students decided to hold Humane Ed lessons outside under a mango tree. It was harmattan and too hot to be cooped up inside! Upper East Region has been a focus are for the donkey skin and meat trade, so it's an important area for GSPCA's Humane Ed Program to concentrate on.
After establishing GSPCA's Humane Ed Program in a school, GSPCA Humane Ed Specialists oversee the program and mentor the HE teachers. Pictures below show GSPCA's Aluizah visiting Doba JHS in Upper East Region (June 2019). All HE students receive a Humane Ed booklet to keep forever!
During his visit to Upper East Region, Aluizah also visited Awaah JHS, where Abileo is the Humane Ed teacher. These regular visits and mentoring are so important for keeping GSPCA's HE Programs functioning and vibrant (Awaah JHS pictures below):
