In the classroom, in the community, on the radio, online
Teach2Teach Radio (T2TR) uses local radio to amplify the impact of T2T’s previous work, reaching up to 7 million people in many communities our work is yet to reach.
The project increases awareness of the value of education among parents, caregivers and communities in the North East region of Ghana.
The radio shows draw on the expertise of T2T’s Community Volunteer Teachers (CVTs) and other educational professionals, encouraging all participants to bring their personal stories of the role that education plays in their lives.
Why T2T Radio?
Our listeners are parents, caregivers and community members and leaders in rural communities who have a direct impact on children’s enrolment and engagement in education. T2T Radio is designed to speak to and engage all members of communities.
All programmes are broadcast in local language to reach as many community-members as possible.
Radio is trusted - two thirds of Ghanaians listen to the radio every day.
Radio allows us to reach and engage community-members with no or low literacy.
T2T’s work is grounded in the importance of connecting up education with community. Our CVTs lived and worked in schools in their own communities, acting as role models for students and the wider community. All CVTs were committed to promoting the value and importance of education in their communities.
T2T Radio continues this community focus but on a much bigger scale, reaching up to 7 million Ghanaians through broadcasting on popular local stations in the North-East Region.
Engaging community voices
T2T Radio engages many different voices and perspectives at every stage of the project. The radio programmes we broadcast are directly influenced by feedback we receive from everyone from educational professionals to listeners at home.
In each episode listeners hear a panel made up of educational professionals discuss a key topic relating to education.
Topics include enrolment, the importance of education for girls, being a role model, and using innovative teaching and learning materials in the classroom.
Panels are made up of educational professionals including T2T-trained Community Volunteer Teachers, Ghana Education Service teachers, and Head Teachers.
All panelists are given an opportunity to bring their unique perspective on the topic being discussed, making the content relatable for listeners.
All participants in the programme keep journals in which they document their personal experience of the project, allowing T2T to integrate this crucial feedback into future work.
Responses from CLGs are a testament to the impact of the programmes:
"We are very happy about this interaction you are having with us. It gives us the opportunity to share what goes on in our homes regarding our children's schooling."
"No single parent can succeed in meeting all the learning needs of children. Both parents and the society in general have to support."
"I did not know of this programme. Now that I know I will join and tell others to join and benefit from it."
"We were sleeping. We are now awake."
Listener feedback is at the heart of T2T Radio’s ethos. We want to know whether our listeners feel that the programmes are relevant to their experience, and to integrate their perspectives on familiar topics.
Each programme includes a live phone-in where listeners can share their thoughts on the topic discussed.
Listeners send voice messages to the T2T mobile phone log which are fed into future programmes.
Community Listener Groups (CLG) bring together community members to listen and respond to the programmes together, creating a live forum for feedback which T2T will respond to and integrate into programme design.
T2T’s media partners for the project are Radio Dagbon and Radio Savannah. Our partnership with these two popular local stations gives T2T extraordinary reach in the North-East region, beaming into the homes of up to 7 million people.
T2T expands into new media
Working with our brilliant media partners Ronin Africa, in tandem with T2T Radio we are delighted to have launched T2T TV.
A filmed version of each panel discussion is available to watch on T2T’s YouTube channel, along with each of the radio programmes.
You can find the programmes, along with other videos about T2T’s work, here:
T2T would like to extend our gratitude to Farmers’ Voice Radio (FVR), an initiative of the Lorna Young Foundation (LYF). LYF were kind enough to share their methodology for FDR, which transforms the lives of farmers and communities in rural Ghana. FVR’s work has informed the development of the T2T Radio pilot.