Ace International School Makes Quality Education Accessible in Ghana

As a trained teacher with an entrepreneurial spirit, Ms. Selom Akuyu, Executive Director of ACE International School, felt duty-bound to facilitate access to education in her community by replicating the high educational standards found in cities at ACE International School. Parents, including herself, had little choice but to travel at least 15 km to Tema each morning. Commuting sometimes took hours, especially during heavy vehicular traffic, and required that parents and learners wake up at 4 am to get to school on time. 

In 2011, ACE International School launched on Selom's porch with just 10 preschoolers and her daughter as the only primary 1 pupil. She served as teacher, cook, driver, and caretaker single-handedly because she could not afford to employ staff, charging GHS 100 ($10) per month for year-round care. She later secured loans from family members and sold some personal belongings to build a school. 

 Ace International has since grown from 10 children to over 200 pupils today, offering quality education in a community where educational structures were scarce over a decade ago. “The idea was to make a top-notch school built on excellence, hence the name Ace,” Selom explained. “Even though I had challenges, there was never a moment I wanted to give up, especially since I wanted the big things, and yet didn’t have the money.”
 That spirit of professionalism has carried the school from its fragile beginnings to a thriving institution employing 18 teachers and 13 non-teaching staff.

Selorm, however, acknowledges that, after fourteen years of running the school, she needed guidance to continue improving and to keep up with the growing demand and educational standards. “Even though I’m a teacher, I need someone to keep me on my toes, grow human resources, make a better school, not just financially, but know-how so kids become better products.”

She was introduced to the Opportunity International EduQuality program by another school leader. In 2025, Selorm attended the Introductory seminar and decided to join the program.
“We were given what they call the Bible (Pathways to Excellence), which has about 18 domains for building a strong school and orientation on what the whole thing is about,” Selorm explains. “I looked through it and identified that I was lacking. My major problem had to do with behaviour management.”  The

The school has since developed a behaviour policy and started a Parent Teacher Association PTA) to improve the school culture and establish an efficient two-way communication system between the school and parents.  “Beyond the school community, there is also the PTA, and honestly, I didn’t put much value on these engagements but after the training, I have really intensified and organised such meetings with the parents, which previously used to be on WhatsApp alone.”  PTA engagements have shifted from one-way WhatsApp updates to family-style meetings where parents and teachers sit together, as a step toward getting parents and guardians actively engaged in their wards' affairs, with open lines of communication to deepen ties with management.