On every street there were people trying to sell things to make a living. Sometimes even very small things like yams which they wouldn’t make a lot of money for. In parts of Accra, Ghana’s capital city there appeared to be no litter collection system and it was virtually impossible to walk in a straight line without trampling people, animals or litter.

The level of poverty in Ghana is more than we expected.

It was a bit of a culture shock to see how much we have compared to children going to school in Asesewa, one of the country’s poorest districts. We had the chance to meet with a 15-year-old school girl called Gifty and spent some time shadowing her to get a sense of what a normal school day is like for her. The whole school experience was really interesting; the way they taught was different and the pupils all seemed so eager to learn.

When Gifty was showing us round her school, we noticed the mixture of ages in each class. For example, in the primary and middle schools, in a classes meant for 8-10 year-olds or 12-14 year olds, you may find students ranging from 12-18, something that wouldn’t happen in the UK.

This is because some children may start school later than expected in Ghana as a result of a lack of money to cover the costs of uniforms, books and fees they may be charged for taking exams.

We discussed these issues with senior politicians who analyse the Ghanaian Government’s work on education.

We also met the head of the GNECC, the equivalent to the Global Campaign to Education here in the UK.

The MPs proudly told us about their special grant to help Ghana’s poorer families to send their children to school. Each child is able to get about £2.25 through this scheme.

But when we spoke to the head of GNECC, he said that this was just not enough. Some families were just too poor and this money is nowhere near enough to cover the cost of sending one child to school for one year.

Before our trip to Ghana we were horrified to discover that 72 million children around the world were not in school. We think this obstacle can be overcome, but it may be a slow process.

World leaders have an important role to play. And your school can help too.