The Power of Peer Referrals: The Impact of Sharing Edify with Other School Leaders

Personal recommendations remain the oldest and most-trusted form of advertising; and the most influential, as they are the most likely to lead to some form of action being taken. In business circles, although it is yet to achieve the same publicity as other growth strategies, peer referral otherwise known as referral marketing, provides razor-sharp targeting, as referral-based customers tend to be better matched to services or products.

For low-fee private schools (LFPS) in Ghana, finding any form of support to improve infrastructure, teacher training and academic programs remains sparse in this area of work. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that 40 percent of Ghana’s basic education schools are private, of which 40 percent are low-fee and the growth of LFPS continues despite numerous challenges. LFPS often operate in low-income areas and school owners often have difficulty accessing finance, training in financial management, school leadership and education technology.

To make up for this insufficiency, most school leaders depend on their peers in professional learning communities, and non-governmental agencies providing professional development in the line of education. This is where Edify comes alongside these entrepreneurs to provide training, loan capital and education technology to improve and expand sustainable Christ-centered education globally. The very few who get wind of such opportunities available to LFPS are always willing to share it with their colleagues.

Here is the story of the school owner of Eden Montessori Learning Centre, Mampong – Josephine Eshun. Three years ago, Josephine Eshun turned up for a training session organized by Edify Ghana in Accra and this will begin her committed journey to transformation with Edify.

Prior to this day, her colleague in the Western Region, Rosemary Ohene Bredu – proprietor of Ahenemba International School, had recommended Edify to her. On one blessed Tuesday morning, she received a call from her sister & fellow proprietor – Lynda Caroline Bugyei of Beautiful Beginnings Montessori, who was attending the Conditions for Learning Training organized by the Education Department of Edify Ghana. After having gone through the morning session of the first of the 3-Day training, Lynda remembered she had heard Josephine enquire about Edify. Josephine who could not turn up immediately on the first day of the training participated in the training for the next two days.

Today, Eden Montessori has benefited in several ways from the Edify Ghana program. In 3 years, it has risen from a client school to a core school. The proprietor shares the impact of their journey with Edify, which began with referrals from fellow colleagues in the following points:

Derived from the script by Josephine Eshun

Vision & Mission: Through Edify, we have been able to come up with our vision, mission statements and our core values. They are now boldly displayed in the school.

Making our School Intentionally Inviting: Edify trained us to make our school intentionally inviting to attract more parents to bring their wards to our school. We have, by God’s grace, made much improvement in the infrastructural development of the school and the environment for our preschool. This has increased the enrolment tremendously.

Christian Transformation: We were trying to operate a Christian school but our partnership with Edify provided us with a clear vision and strategy on how to achieve that. We have been able to:

Enhance Christ-like behaviour among students and staff in the school.
Develop a well-structured daily devotion for staff and students
Establish a discipleship club
Develop a reward system for Christ-like behaviour.
Set up a school transformation committee (STC) which involves various stakeholders of the school including students and parents in the decision making of the school.

Academic Environment and Classroom Management: Edify has helped train teachers on effective classroom management and the school has been resourced with the necessary educational tools to enhance academic work in the classroom for both teachers and students.

Upgrade of School’s Educational Technology: Through the partnership, we have:

Setup a modern computer lab with the SMILE Application installed.
Received training on the use of the Google Classroom and other platforms for our virtual teaching and learning during the lockdown period, which helped us to sustain our students and staff in those difficult times. .
Received training and implemented Ed-tech integration and e-learning in the classroom.
Participated in a coding competition in which we came up as the 1^st runner-up.
Acquired e-readers.
Received regular checks on the lab and free repair of faulty computer lab equipment.

Staff Recruitment: We have improved on our recruitment processes and based on that recruitment is need-based and priority given to Christian teachers.

Sound Financial Discipline: We have:

Developed a school fee-collection policy through the knowledge gained from trainings in Business Transformation.
Received training for the account personnel on proper bookkeeping and financial discipline.
Received regular monitoring visits that keeps us on our toes.

Personally as a Proprietor, I have gained a lot of experiences and exposure through conferences and training programs organized by Edify.

Peer referrals has been one effective way news about Edify spreads across the country of Ghana. The power essentially lies in the fact that existing client schools usually only promote Edify’s services to their colleagues, friends and family that they believe would be interested. They know their connection’s interests and preferences more than anyone ever could and, consequently, it leads to better-qualified leads and higher returns at a lower cost. We at Edify are grateful to the many school leaders and stakeholders who freely refer our work to the schools who need it.