years-experience access-alumni-network airfare airport-pick-up assistance-with-application-process community-service-placement continuous-support cultural-trips domestic-transport emergency-support field-trips global-competence-certificate grade-transcripts host-family-placement housing individual-contact-person internship-placement language-instruction meals medical-insurance orientations-during-your-time-abroad other pre-departure-orientation product-materials re-entry-orientation school-dipolma school-materials school-placement school-transport school-uniform stipend teaching-materials vaccinations visa-and-passport-fees visa-application-assistance world-wide-presence

High School in Ghana

Known as one of the friendliest West African countries, Ghana is an ideal place to engage in a new culture.

Known as one of the friendliest West African countries, Ghana is an ideal place to engage in a new culture. By living with a host family and attending classes with local Ghanaian students, you’ll be able to rewrite your high school experience and step outside of your comfort zone. Before long you could be browsing through markets of fresh fruits and vegetables or munching on fried plantains seasoned with chili pepper and ginger. This is your chance to get off the beaten path and join a culture that values taking the time to enjoy life. Study abroad in Ghana for a year, challenging yourself and defying expectations as you become part of a new community.

Things to know

Ghanaians tend to be very community-oriented, so the needs of the group take precedence over personal desires. It’s very important to respect the elderly—even if someone is just a few minutes older than you! Children often refer to adults as “auntie” and “uncle” (or for older people, “grandma” and “grandpa”) whether or not they’re actually related. Families spend a lot of time outside, cooking meals and socializing in the courtyard. Ghanaians don’t like to rush; you’ll probably hear your friends and host family repeat the phrase “take time,” which reflects their laid-back approach to life.

What's included in your experience

  • Airfare

Eligibility

Graduates Eligible? Yes
Minimum GPA 2.5
Age Range 15 yrs, 0 months to
18 yrs, 0 months at start of program
Language Skills Not required
COVID-19 Vaccine Not required for participants under the age of 18

Based on differences in culture, strict government regulation of medications, and other local customs, it has been our experience that not all of our international AFS partners are able to support students with certain diagnoses, including but not limited to, severe allergies, strict dietary restrictions, ADD/ADHD, and those currently taking or who have taken psychotropic medications and/or received counseling for mental/psychological issues within the past year. If this applies to you, please get in touch with an AFS Study Abroad Specialist early so that we can determine the right experience for you.

Your Journey to Ghana

In the months before your departure, AFSers have the opportunity to participate in various preparatory activities, including an online Student Learning Journey, which is an interactive course that brings AFSers from around the world together to learn how to develop essential global skills, intercultural communication techniques, and practice social impact, maximizing the outcomes of the AFS learning experience. 

AFS-USA will coordinate and share your international travel with you. You will need to coordinate your own travel to the point of international departure. From there, your journey in Ghana will begin when you land, where you’ll be met by staff, volunteers and meet your fellow AFSers from around the world. Shortly after arrival, you will attend an arrival orientation and get a crash course on the culture of Ghana, living with a host family, safety, and support structures.

Soon you’ll be ready to head to your new community. Along the way you might see women wrapped in colorful West African fabrics walking through the streets with babies on their backs, or people playing draughts (a game similar to checkers) in courtyards or cafés. Street life is important, so there are nearly always lots of people out walking around or sitting together and catching up. No matter where you are, you’re bound to hear traditional music played by locals on drums and flutes.

GHA-HS-afs-students-in-ghana

Meeting your Ghanaian Host Family

AFSers have lived all throughout the country, but when you study abroad in Ghana you’ll most likely be in the country’s cultural and commercial capital, Accra.

Families in Ghana tend to be large, with several generations living in the same home or compound. Your host family will likely be welcoming and hospitable, and some parents can also be strict. If you live in the north, you can expect to eat your meals around a mat on the floor.

Antoinette with school children in front of bus in Ghana

Settling into daily life in Ghana

Teenage Life

Your friends will probably like gathering together in stadiums or in front of the TV to watch Ghana’s national soccer team, the Black Stars. You’re also likely to encounter fans of volleyball, track-and-field, boxing, and basketball. Dancing is popular, especially to music known as highlife. You might hear highlife beats—whichare influenced by jazz and other Western music—played by enthusiastic locals on guitars and horns. You can also check out the super modern hiplife genre, which is a fusion of West African music and hip-hop. Along with sports and dancing, teenagers enjoy hanging out together and watching movies, especially those made in Ghana and nearby Nigeria.

GHA-HS-Acras-de-poisson

Food you’ll encounter

Food in Ghana is often hot and spicy, with ingredients like yams, cassava, millet, maize, beans, plantains, and rice. Some popular dishes include fufu (a dough-like combination of plantains and cassava), ampesi (boiled yams or plantains with sauce), tuo zaafi (a thick porridge of corn or millet, often called T.Z.). You can also try the famous Ghanaian red-red, which is made with beans, shrimp or prawns, red palm oil, and tomatoes. For dessert there’s kelewele (fried plantain with chili pepper and ginger) and custard melkkos (custard with cinnamon). As you explore Ghanaian cuisine you’ll find there are a variety of street foods to choose from, with vendors often selling delicacies from metal bowls perched on top of their heads.

GHA-HS-afs-student-in-ghana

Your High School

School is a good place for you to make friends and learn first-hand about Ghanaian culture. Classes are taught in English, even though that won’t be the first language of most of your classmates. Students focus on four core subjects: English, math, integrated science, and social studies. You’ll probably be enrolled in an academic high school, but you could also attend a vocational or technical school. Your typical day will begin around 7 am with an assembly going over the daily announcements. You can take up to 6 classes, and each class lasts around 45 minutes. After school and on the weekends, you may have the opportunity to engage in a volunteer project.

Scholarships and Aid

We believe that studying abroad should not be contingent on personal finances. When you apply, we work with you to understand your family’s needs and match you with available scholarships and aid. 100% of accepted applicants with demonstrated need receive funds.

Learn More

What's Included

  • 75+ years of experience delivering high-quality programs through a worldwide network of 32,000 dedicated volunteers
  • Accommodations with a vetted host family
  • Round-trip international airfare for the designated program dates
  • School enrollment fees
  • Worldwide, 24-hour emergency assistance
  • Access to an in-country support team and network, as well as our Participant Support Department based here in the U.S.
  • Orientations and intercultural education before and during your program
  • International secondary medical travel coverage
  • Visa support and guidance
  • Inclusion in a worldwide returnee and alumni network of over 1,000,000 people
Head-Graphic2

Returning Home

“Life-changing” is hard to describe, yet it’s nearly always the first thing that AFSers say when asked about their experience abroad. “Transformed” is another one.
When you return home from your study abroad in Ghana, you’ll bring with you a sense of accomplishment unlike any other. You’ll have gained maturity and independence, discovered new passions, and developed the confidence and resilience to accomplish anything you set out to do.
That transformation isn’t only visible to you, though – others see it as well. AFSers gain critical skills for college and careers. Second language fluency, intercultural competence, creativity, and critical reasoning will help you succeed, whatever path you take. “Life-changing” means it’s only the beginning.
It’s not just an adventure abroad; it’s a whole new reality. The perspectives and personal connections you gained will stay with you and likely draw you back to the second home you found in Ghana.

In fact, our alumni reviews have made AFS one of the top-rated organizations in the study abroad industry.

A new you awaits.

Apply for High School Study Abroad in Ghana!

GET STARTED