Drone delivery helps students in Ghana take national exams on time

The second week in August 2023, more than 600,000 students across Ghana planned to take an exam to determine the next step in their education. But flooding along the Sene River blocked education authorities from delivering exams to students in the Sekyere Afram Plains District. 

To solve the problem, the West African Examination Council reached out to Zipline to deliver the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) to the district. Typically, Zipline drones deliver blood, vaccines, antimalarial products, and other medical supplies, but officials realized that the same infrastructure built for healthcare could support the national education system.  

“Zipline prevented a major disruption for our students” says Prince Owusu-Ansah, Director of the Ghana Education Service for the Sekyere Afram Plains District. “Without Zipline, there wouldn’t have been a BECE in our district this year.”

It’s crucial for students in the district to take the exam at the same time as colleagues across the country, explains Kusi Amoatin, country community lead at Zipline Ghana. “The risk is that if students don’t receive the exam on time, all other districts will have written their exam already,” he says. “It’s the same set of questions, so students could potentially know what’s going to be on the test.” 

The BECE qualifies students to enter Senior High Schools or Technical Institutes the following year. Missing the exam or having results disqualified could delay the students’ next educational step. 

In 2023, Zipline delivered almost 500 exams to students in areas cut off by flooding, enabling them to take their tests on time. 

Beyond these exams, Zipline made 16,000 deliveries of educational materials including textbooks, workbooks, creative supplies, and writing implements to students in Ghana in 2023. 

“We see a huge potential to use Zipline to deliver education materials,” says Maame Esi Amoah, a fulfillment lead in Ghana. “All students in Ghana should have access to the materials they need to advance their education, including those who live in hard-to-reach areas.”