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Fantastic 4.54rating (29)

Preschool Teaching Assistant in Accra

location
4 - 12 weeks  ·  Age 17 - 50+
Verified

Highlights

  • Assist the teachers at a nursery or preschool in Accra that runs short on staff, space and materials - an extra pair of hands genuinely changes what a day can hold.
  • Walk to work. Every placement school sits within walking distance of the volunteer house; De Kings Academy is about ten minutes away.
  • Teach the children to write their names and numbers, lead nursery rhymes and songs, and build the fine motor and social skills that later schooling depends on.

Highlights

  • Assist the teachers at a nursery or preschool in Accra that runs short on staff, space and materials - an extra pair of hands genuinely changes what a day can hold.
  • Walk to work. Every placement school sits within walking distance of the volunteer house; De Kings Academy is about ten minutes away.
  • Teach the children to write their names and numbers, lead nursery rhymes and songs, and build the fine motor and social skills that later schooling depends on.
  • Stay on after the 2:30pm bell to help with homework and play, and teach a little of your own language - the children are usually the ones who ask.
  • Live in a six-bedroom volunteer house in Teshie Nungua with an on-site chef, air conditioning, Wi-Fi and the beach a fifteen-minute walk away.

  • You don't have to pay anything yet

    Especially good for

    Age 17+
    Singles
    Couples
    Families
    Groups
    50+

    About the program

    Assist the teachers at an under-resourced kindergarten in Accra, working with nursery and early primary children a short walk from the volunteer house.

    The gap you are filling

    Ghana has made real progress on education – adult literacy passed 70% over a decade ago – but the early-years end of the system is where the strain shows. The nursery and preschool centres that serve Accra's lower-income neighbourhoods run with too few teachers, too little ...

    About the program

    The gap you are filling

    Ghana has made real progress on education – adult literacy passed 70% over a decade ago – but the early-years end of the system is where the strain shows. The nursery and preschool centres that serve Accra's lower-income neighbourhoods run with too few teachers, too little in the way of learning materials and, in some cases, buildings that are barely fit for the job. A class of small children with one adult in the room is a very different thing from a class with two.

    That is the whole point of this placement. You are not there to replace a Ghanaian teacher; you are there so the teacher can actually teach, and so the child who needs ten minutes of individual attention can have it.

    What the work looks like

    You are assigned to a class and work alongside the teacher through the daily routine. In practice that means helping the children write their names and numbers, leading nursery rhymes and songs, running activities that build fine motor and social skills, keeping everyone physically active, and helping with the ordinary business of feeding, washing and settling small children. In the primary classes it shifts more towards teaching support and admin.

    Volunteers who find their feet often end up taking classes of their own – there is room for that if you want it, and no pressure if you would rather assist. School finishes at 2:30 or 3pm, and many volunteers stay on to help with homework and play. Teaching a bit of your own language goes down well; the children tend to ask first.

    Where you will be

    Several schools in the area take our volunteers, all of them within walking distance of the volunteer house. One of them, De Kings Academy, was founded in 2001 and teaches nursery through primary grade 5. It has had a hard few years – enrolment has fallen and the school is short of almost everything, from library books to basic classroom materials – and it is roughly ten minutes' walk from where you will be staying.

    Practicalities

    Work runs Monday to Friday, around 8am to 3pm, with weekends free. Minimum age 17. A clean criminal background check is required for all adult participants, and under-18s need a parental consent form. No teaching qualification is needed – what matters is that you are patient, proactive and comfortable with young children.



    Typical day

    Before school

    Breakfast at the volunteer house with the other volunteers, cooked by Makella, the house chef. Then a short walk to your placement – every school used is close enough to reach on foot.

    Around 8:00am – The school day starts

    You join your assigned class and work alongside the teacher. ..

    Typical day

    Before school

    Breakfast at the volunteer house with the other volunteers, cooked by Makella, the house chef. Then a short walk to your placement – every school used is close enough to reach on foot.

    Around 8:00am – The school day starts

    You join your assigned class and work alongside the teacher. Mornings are the best part of the day for the youngest children: name and number writing, songs and nursery rhymes, counting games, drawing, and activities aimed at fine motor skills. In the primary classes you will be supporting lessons and helping with marking and admin.

    Through the day

    The practical side of caring for small children is part of the job – helping at mealtimes, washing up, settling disputes, keeping everyone moving. Volunteers who want to lead a session of their own can, once they have found their feet and agreed it with the teacher.

    2:30–3:00pm – School ends

    Formally your day is done. In practice a lot of volunteers stay on: homework help, football in the yard, or teaching a few words of their own language to whoever is interested.

    Evenings

    Back at the house for dinner with the other volunteers. There is a common room, satellite TV, a table tennis board and a PlayStation, and the beach is a fifteen-minute walk if you want the sea before dark.

    Weekends

    Free. Most people head for Cape Coast and Elmina, the Kakum canopy walkway, Boti Falls, Ada Foah on the Volta estuary, or simply Labadi Beach and the markets and music of Accra itself.


    Free-time activities

    You work Monday to Friday, roughly 8am to 3pm, so late afternoons are yours and weekends are completely free.

    On the doorstep

    The volunteer house is in Teshie Nungua, about twenty minutes from central Accra and a fifteen-minute walk from the nearest beach. The house itself has a large compound, a ...

    Free-time activities

    You work Monday to Friday, roughly 8am to 3pm, so late afternoons are yours and weekends are completely free.

    On the doorstep

    The volunteer house is in Teshie Nungua, about twenty minutes from central Accra and a fifteen-minute walk from the nearest beach. The house itself has a large compound, a shaded chill-out area, table tennis, a PlayStation and satellite TV, and there are usually enough volunteers around that something is happening. Labadi Beach, the busiest and liveliest stretch in the city, is close by and comes with live highlife and drumming at weekends.

    Accra

    Makola Market is the city at full volume and worth an afternoon on its own. Jamestown, the old colonial quarter by the lighthouse and fishing harbour, has become the centre of Accra's street-art and boxing scene. The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and the National Museum are the places to get your bearings on Ghanaian independence and history. For food and music in the evening, Osu is where most volunteers end up.

    Weekend trips

    Cape Coast and Elmina are the big one - three hours west, and the slave castles there are a genuinely heavy but essential day. Most people combine it with the Kakum National Park canopy walkway, a series of rope bridges strung 40m up through the rainforest. Boti Falls and the Akosombo Dam on Lake Volta make an easier day out, and Ada Foah, where the Volta meets the sea, is the weekend for beaches and river estuary boat trips.

    Worth knowing

    Ghana is one of the easiest countries in West Africa to travel around independently, and Ghanaians are famously welcoming to visitors. Trotro minibuses are the cheap way to get about; ride-hailing apps work well in Accra itself. Your in-country coordinator can help arrange weekend trips, and add-on tours can also be booked in advance through your online account.


    Requirements

    Requirements

    Minimum Age: 17 years

    In order to join the program you need to be at least 17 years old on the program start date.

    Language Skills

    You need to speak English (basic level)

    Criminal Background Check

    required

    Required Documents

    CV, Insurance and Passport

    Nationality Restrictions

    No restrictions. Helping hands from all over the world are welcome.

    Other Skills

    No teaching qualification or previous experience is needed. What matters is patience, energy and being comfortable around young children in a busy, under-resourced classroom. Be proactive - volunteers who offer to lead an activity get far more out of the placement than those who wait to be asked. All adult participants provide a clean criminal background check; under-18s need a signed parental consent form.

    Time Commitment

    Your helping hand will be required on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 07:00 - 13:00

    What's Included

    What's Included

    On-site Services

    Included

    • Airport pickup and drop-off at Kotoka International Airport, Accra – both directions, which is not the case on most of our programmes
    • Accommodation at the volunteer house for your whole stay
    • Breakfast and dinner, cooked in-house
    • Welcome meeting and orientation
    • Your placement at the school, and coordination of the work
    • 24-hour in-country support and a long-standing local team
    • Comprehensive pre-departure information
    • Certificate of participation, on request

    Not included

    • Flights
    • Travel and medical insurance – mandatory, available through us at extra cost
    • Visa and vaccinations. Ghana is not a visa-on-arrival country for most passports, so apply at a Ghanaian embassy well ahead, and yellow fever vaccination is required for entry
    • Lunch, and meals outside the volunteer house
    • Daily travel to the project, public transport and any extra transfers
    • Personal spending and weekend travel

    A one-off application fee of USD 249 applies on top of the programme fee. It is valid for a year, so a second programme inside that window carries no further application fee, and returning volunteers get USD 50 off. Programme fees can be split into interest-free instalments, with the balance due 45 days before departure.

    Airport Pickup at Kotoka International Airport

    Airport pickup from Kotoka International Airport in Accra (ACC) is included, and so is the drop-off at the end of your programme – worth noting, as return transfers are charged extra on most of our other programmes.

    A member of the local team will meet you on arrival and take you to the volunteer house in Teshie Nungua, roughly a 25-minute drive. Orientation runs the following day, after which you will be taken to your placement school and introduced to the staff you will be working with.

    If you are already in Ghana or arriving overland, pickup can be arranged from an agreed meeting point instead – confirm your plans with the team in advance.

    Before you fly: most nationalities need a Ghanaian visa arranged in advance, and proof of yellow fever vaccination is required at the border. Start both early.

    Accommodation

    You stay at the volunteer house in Teshie Nungua, a lively suburb on the eastern side of Accra. It is a modern six-bedroom residence about 25 minutes from the airport, 20 minutes from the city centre, and a fifteen-minute walk from the nearest beach.

    Rooms have two bunk beds each and are air-conditioned, with four toilets and three bathrooms between them, running water backed by three reservoirs, and a fully equipped kitchen. Communal space is the point of the place: a large compound, a shaded chill-out area, a spacious living room, two satellite TVs with internet, table tennis and a PlayStation. Wi-Fi is free throughout.

    The house takes up to 30 volunteers and interns at a time, from all over the world, so you will not be short of company or of people to travel with at weekends. Security is taken seriously – a fenced wall, cameras at the gate, on-site security staff, and the nearest police station five minutes away.

    Every placement school used on this programme is within walking distance of the house.

    Food & Beverages

    Breakfast and dinner are provided at the volunteer house and included in your fee. They are cooked by Makella, the house chef, who handles both Ghanaian and international dishes – so expect jollof rice, red red, groundnut soup and banku alongside more familiar food if you want a break from it.

    Lunch is not included. Most volunteers eat near their placement or back at the house; either way it costs very little. Street food in Accra is excellent and cheap, and the kitchen is fully equipped if you would rather cook.

    Vegetarians and volunteers with allergies or other dietary requirements are straightforward to accommodate – note it on your application form and tell the house team when you arrive. Drink bottled or sachet water rather than tap water; both are sold everywhere.

    Internet Access

    Limited access at the project site
    You don't have to pay anything yet

    What's NOT included?

    What's NOT included?

    Flight Tickets

    The nearest airport is Kotoka International Airport (ACC) in Accra. We assist you to find cheap flights to Ghana. FIND CHEAP FLIGHTS

    Travel Insurance

    Going abroad is an adventure and it is always best to be prepared. Sudden illness or injury, cancellation or theft - a travel insurance for Ghana provides security and is a plus to have. GET A QUOTE

    Vaccines

    If you are intending to volunteer in Ghana you should seek medical advice before starting your social journey. Check your required vaccinations for Ghana. VACCINE CHECKER

    Details on arrival

    Start dates: weekly, year-round – pick any week that suits you.

    Airport: Kotoka International Airport, Accra (ACC). A member of the local team will meet you and take you to the volunteer house in Teshie Nungua, about a 25-minute drive. Orientation runs the following day, after which you will be taken to your placement and introduced.

    Visa: most nationalities need a visa arranged in advance through a Ghanaian embassy or consulate – this is not a visa-on-arrival country for most passports, so start the process early. You will need proof of yellow fever vaccination to enter.

    Health: yellow fever vaccination is mandatory. Antimalarials are strongly recommended; speak to a travel clinic well before you fly.

    Spending money: budget for lunches, local transport and weekend travel. There are ATMs and exchange facilities across Accra.

    Availability
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

    Program Fees

    $266 per week 4 - 12 weeks Age 17 - 50+

    Payment methods

    Visa Master Card Maestro American Express PayPal

    NO CREDIT CARD FEES


    Duration

    4 - 12 weeks

    Deposit

    Reserve your spot with just a few clicks and a small, secure deposit. You can pay by credit card, PayPal, or other convenient methods.


    Final Payment

    You’ll agree on the final payment method with your local organization during the application process. This final payment is only due closer to the start of your trip.

    You don't have to pay anything yet
    4.5
    Top Pick
    One of the top picks on Volunteer World, according to travelers

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    Meet your project coordinator

    Sahil
    29
    reviews
    4.54
    Fantastic
    2007
    Founded

    Verified

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    1. - 1. Jan 1

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