Funkoe Spot is located at Funkoe, a coastal community in the Ahanta West Municipal of the Western Region. It is about ten kilometers away from Sekondi-Takoradi, the Western Regional Capital.

The community has an estimated total population of over ten thousand, with more than four thousand of its inhabitants of school age. Most of the inhabitants of Funkoe are fishermen, fishmongers and artisans with a few public servants. A greater number of the residents of the community are low-income earners. Due to these circumstances, a significant portion of the population is unable to keep up with their children’s education and school-aged children engage instead in fishing and petty trading, resulting in a low literacy rates across the community.

Mr Solomon Lartey, a headteacher at a local school, alongside three other Catalysts, decided to start up a Spot with the aim of providing a learning space, learning materials, digital tools and support to residents of the community in order to bring about a positive change in the status of residents through education. It was also established to serve as a place where the love for reading and the development of reading skills among learners will be cultivated. They were able to complete the setup of the Spot in January 2024 and were subsequently joined by other Catalysts.

Setting up the Spot’s physical location proved to be the first challenge. The team set out to raise funds and were supported by some benevolent community members. They transformed an abandoned office, which was in a deplorable state, into a space that was decent for use. This included creating sitting spaces for users to comfortably engage in learning at the Spot.

The Spot undertakes a lot of activities, including Edukidz for learners from KG1 to Basic Three; EcoSTEM where activities are planned and organised around Environmental Sustainability and STEM to arouse and develop the interest of learners in these areas; Ignite Equity with activities on gender equality and equity, personal development, career guidance, and development of entrepreneurial skills; and EduLit to help improve the literacy rates. Furthermore, Spot Leadership sessions are held, where Catalysts come together to share ideas, plan, learn and prepare themselves to be able to influence Spot users and the community to bring about the positive change they envisage.

As a young Spot, they have taken great initiative to gain momentum within the community. They have designed events to be held regularly: Spot Day is to be held once every year to create awareness and raise funds to support the activities of the Spot, while Career Guidance Day provides guidance on career choices and related factors to consider. Furthermore, monthly Reading and Spelling Bee Competitions and quizzes are organised to keep the Spot active, while Exhibition Day celebrates the efforts and talents of Spot users, as their works are exhibited every three months!

The presence of the Spot has provided access to digital tools like the tablets and a router. There were no digital tools at schools to help learners conduct research online, watch videos, or learn how to pronounce words correctly. But with EduSpots’ digital tools, the situation is different now as learners are aided with self-learning. The love for reading has improved with more learners showing an interest. The activities of the Ignite Equity Club have helped develop entrepreneurial skills among the learners.

The impact of the Spot is not only felt by just the learners, Catalysts have also been able to develop professionally through the frequent professional development programmes and the monthly challenges. Many parents have been relieved of the cost of buying storybooks, while the host school has also benefited because of the improved performance of the learners — the EduKidz club members won the Ahanta West Reading and Spelling Bee Competition held in June 2024!

The Catalysts envision a Spot that will serve as a digital center, as well as a place where every Spot user will have access to the needed resources and support to thrive, irrespective of their gender, socio-economic background, religion or race!