Man-made barriers discouraging intra-continental educational tours - Edibeck Consult MD

Man-made barriers in the form of numerous checkpoints, and undue delay in the processing of travel documents, among others are disincentives for organising educational tours within the continent, Edward Obiri Ampong, has observed.

The Managing Director of Edibeck Consult noted that the challenge had left organisers of educational and cultural exchange programmes with no option than to rely on partners abroad, especially in Europe to organise summer camps, tours, and exchange programmes for school children.

“There are more challenges moving within the African countries than there are moving out to europe,” he said during a press briefing on an upcoming summer camp Holland event.

He noted that addressing the bottlenecks on the free movement of persons could help Africa benefit greatly from intra-continental cultural exchange programmes and other educational tours by way of revenue generation and cultural integration.

Ampong said he was hopeful that the full implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in the coming years, which had protocols on the movement of goods and services would help the Company achieve its vision of organising camping and tour on the continent.

“What we are trying to do is replicate what we are doing in Europe also in Ghana as a long-term vision. A time will come where you would see hundreds of kids from all over the world coming to Ghana and from an economic point of view we (Ghana) will also enjoy,” he said.

Edibeck Consult will on July 29 embark on a tour to Europe as part of a 2023 Summer Camps Holland event in Braamt, Netherlands.

The event is aimed at promoting education, culture, and tourism between the Netherlands and participating countries, including Ghana.

About 51 schoolchildren below the age of 17 years from 18 private schools in the country will be participating in the two weeks event.

Activities lined up for this year’s event include the introduction to Dutch as a language, Raft building, ziplining, mountain climbing, and cycling, among others

There would also be a tour of four European countries – Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Germany.

Participants will have the opportunity to visit sites in Europe such as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame de Paris, Brussels City, Berlaymont building, and Amsterdam City.

Edwin Ayitiah, the General Manager of The Light Academy, which is a partner school, said learning out of the classroom was a good way to nurture creativity and critical thinking in children.

“The world is moving at a very fast pace and trust me, we need young people who can think critically and find very creative and innovative ways of solving real-life problems,” he said.