Portia Dzilah: Rural teacher changing lives, making history on the global stage
In a community where teenage pregnancy, truancy and low school enrolment threaten children’s futures, English Teacher, Portia Dzifa Dzilah is helping change the narrative.
As the first Ghanaian to win the Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Award for Sub-Saharan Africa (global level), she nurtures resilience, offering guidance, skill building and support to the pupils of Pakro-Adjinase Anglican Basic School (PABS) in the Akuapem South District in the Eastern Region.
In an interview with The Mirror in Pakro-Adjinase Akuapem last Tuesday, Miss Dzilah, with over 11 years of experience, narrated her journey to global recognition.
She currently serves as the Municipal Basic School Coordinator for Akuapem South Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT). In 2024, Miss Dzilah also won the Best Teacher Award (JHS Category) in the Akuapem South District.
Teacher at birth
Miss Dzilah, who identifies herself as a teacher, was born to parents who were in the Ghana Police Service. They are Chief Inspector (retd) Edward Etse Dzilah and the late Inspector Josephine Obeng.
She noted that she started her basic education at the Additrom Preparatory School in Adabraka, Accra and continued through various schools due to her parents' frequent transfers.
Miss Dzilah then went on to the Odorgonno Senior Secondary School, graduating in 2007.
“In High School and as a day student, I often assisted my English teacher. This ignited my passion to teach English. After school, I worked as a salesgirl and supported my family by selling sachet water and creating tie-dye fabrics,” she recounted.
Miss Dzilah added that her maternal aunt, a former teacher, noticing how she gathered children in the community to teach them, encouraged her to pursue the profession.
“In 2011, I began my journey as a professional teacher with a diploma in Basic Education at the Accra College of Education, where I was trained and later placed at the Achimota Basic School for menteeship,” she added.
Miss Dzilah then continued to secure a Bachelor's in English Literature from the University of Cape Coast.
When asked about the genesis of her teaching career, she said it began when she was first posted to Forifori D/A Basic School in the Kwahu Afram Plains South District, where she initially taught Kindergarten before later handling English for Basic Seven to Nine.
Here, she stated that she founded a Girls Club to combat dropout rates and teenage pregnancy in the community, an initiative that empowered over 1,000 girls and secured sponsorships for hundreds more.
“Living in Afram Plains was challenging. I travelled long distances, faced robbery attacks and lived in a mud house with frequent encounters with wildlife. Regardless, these hardships kept me stronger.
I remained dedicated to my students, chaperoning them during exams and sports events which were in different towns,” she added.
Miss Dzilah was later transferred in 2019 to the Pakro-Adjinase Anglican Basic School in the Akuapem South District, where she currently teaches.
Teaching with care
For Miss Dzilah, teaching with care is the focus of her work. At PABS, she applies learner-centred methods guided by her belief that “no child is a tabula rasa”, to wit, no child starts as a completely blank slate.
Her teaching philosophy is rooted in holistic development; a teacher’s role is to discover and develop what’s already inside the child, rather than assume they have nothing until they’re taught.
Throughout her journey, Miss Dzilah noted that she has tackled literacy challenges by encouraging reading habits and supplying materials to kindergarten and primary learners. Her efforts led to the school’s first-ever grade one in English.
She has also raised funds to buy school uniforms and shoes for over 100 students and provided exercise books and other learning materials for kindergarten children.
Changing lives through kindness
The 36-year-old teacher has always channelled her kindness into changing lives. During last year’s BECE examination, I even travelled with candidates to other towns, sleeping in classrooms to support them. Afterwards, I hosted a celebration dubbed: “Feast of Togetherness” at my home,” she mentioned.
In addition, Miss Dzilah’s ‘Uniform and Sanitary Care Bank’ project, funded through social media and her personal resources, has provided almost 1,000 children with school uniforms and menstrual pads, while also teaching them practical skills such as soap making and crafts.
This initiative, she said, has boosted girls’ enrolment by 98 per cent, keeping them in school and restoring their confidence.
“Throughout my work, I have helped find a sponsor for a primary school girl on the verge of dropping out and also raised money to help two parents send their daughters to senior high school,” she added.
She recalled one boy in her school who often skipped classes because he didn’t have enough to eat, a common phenomenon. Miss Dzilah stepped in and fed him daily, keeping him in school. "That boy has now completed school."
Global recognition
Through her work, Miss Dzilah was honoured with global recognition. She noted that through this, she now contributes to global conversations on improving education in rural communities. She advocates Girl Child Education and shares insights on how to make learning inclusive and effective.
Legacy of love
For over a decade, Miss Dzilah has been on a mission to leave a legacy of love in the hearts of everyone she taught. Her pupils refer to her as a mentor, caregiver and community leader.
For the future, she hopes that more educators will strive to impart rather than just teach. One of her goals is to improve the pupils of Pakro Anglican’s reading habits and supply teenage girls with sanitary pads every quarter of the year.
“With an enrolment of about 350, comprising kindergarten (KG), primary and JHS, most children in KG and primary have reading difficulties as well as speaking difficulties in the English Language. It will be a great relief to assist the children in improving on this,” she said.
