A Buriton charity has helped hundreds of schoolchildren in rural Ghana make some big decisions about their future career prospects.

And the ground-breaking work has proven so successful it may be rolled out to more youngsters in the West African country.

Buriton’s Village to Village (V2V) group helped fund a careers advice day for 350 schoolchildren in Buriton’s sister community Dominase in Ghana.

The youngsters heard from a range of speakers including a doctor, teacher, bank manager and police officer.

The event aimed to help the teenagers decide subjects for the next stage of their education.

V2V member Doug Jones said: “In Ghana, when children are 14, they move from a junior high to a senior high school where they study only three subjects.

“This event aimed to inform them about future career possibilities and the subjects which might help them towards particular careers.”

Feedback from education officials in Ghana suggests the event was a great success.

Emmanual Kyei, from the Ghana Education Service, told the V2V group: “The programme has been very helpful, not only to the children but also to the teachers.

“Teachers have encouraged their students to discuss with their parents the kind of subjects they might choose.”

Buriton fundraisers paid to bring children to the event from outlying villages and for basic refreshments.

A senior official from the Ghana Education Service attended the event and she is now exploring how to organise similar events in other parts of the district, Doug added.

Regular donations from people in the Buriton area also pay for a popular annual inter-school reading competition in Dominase.

Doug said: “We’d also like to hold the careers event each year but we need a bit more income to do this. Anyone interested in helping can make a donation or take part in our regular giving scheme.”

Details of the regular giving scheme can be found in the Make a World of Difference leaflet on the Buriton Community website at http://www.buriton.info or by emailing Doug at [email protected]