How to shortlist an Accra school without setting foot in the country

You can do most of the first stage of an Accra school search from your sofa in London, Toronto, New York, Lagos or Dubai. The mistake is thinking remote research means reading more school websites.

It does not. Good remote research is about collecting comparable evidence and knowing what still needs to be verified in person.

Start with a broad but relevant list

Use the EarlyDays school directory and preschool directory to build your first list. Filter by the child's age, area and school type.

Do not create a list of 30 schools. Start with around eight to twelve realistic candidates. Remove any school that clearly fails a non-negotiable requirement before you start contacting admissions.

Give every school the same five questions

Your first enquiry should be short. Tell the school your child's age, current location, intended start period and likely area in Accra.

Then ask:

1. Would my child be considered for this stage/class?

2. Is the school currently accepting enquiries for that age group?

3. What is the admissions process?

4. Can we arrange a phone/video conversation or virtual tour?

5. What information should we send before that conversation?

The purpose is not to get every answer immediately. It is to see which schools can give clear, useful information.

Use video intelligently

A polished school video can show you the campus, but it cannot answer every question. Ask for a live video call if possible. A live conversation lets you ask follow-up questions and see whether the person speaking can explain the child's likely experience.

If the school cannot provide a virtual tour, ask specific questions about the classroom, outdoor area, arrival process and daily routine instead of judging from photographs.

Cross-check important claims

Do not rely on one source for important information. For each finalist, try to confirm key details through the school's own current information and a direct conversation with admissions.

For example, if a third-party page says a school offers a particular curriculum, ask the school which curriculum your child's age group actually follows. If an old article quotes a fee, ask for the current fee schedule.

Three sources do not have to mean three websites. They can be the school's profile, the school's current response and a direct conversation or visit.

Build a simple comparison table

Create columns for location, age/class, curriculum, admissions status, fee information, daily hours, transport, communication and your notes.

Add one column called “What we still need to verify”. This is often the most useful column because it stops uncertainty from being mistaken for a positive or negative.

Ask the questions that matter to a returning child

A child moving from another country may need a little context about how their previous schooling maps onto the new environment. Ask how the school handles placement and what information it uses.

Ask how parents receive updates. Ask how the school deals with a child who needs help settling in. Ask what the first few weeks look like.

For younger children, use questions to ask before enrolling as your checklist.

Know what remote research cannot tell you

No video call can fully reproduce the feeling of a school during a normal morning. You may not see how children interact, how noisy classrooms become, how staff respond under pressure or what the school run feels like.

That is why remote research should produce a shortlist, not necessarily the final decision.

If you can visit Ghana, use your trip to see the three finalists. If you cannot, ask more detailed questions and request a live conversation with the relevant school leader where appropriate.

The three-school rule

Once you have three credible options, stop expanding the list unless you discover a genuine problem. More choices do not automatically produce a better decision. They often produce decision fatigue.

Score each school against your original requirements. Then write one sentence answering: “Why would this school work for my child?” If you cannot answer clearly, it probably should not remain a finalist.

If you are abroad and want someone to do the shortlist and physical-visit coordination for you, EarlyDays Concierge offers exactly that. You provide your child's age, preferred area and budget; the service identifies three suitable options and arranges tours around your Accra visit.

Remote school research works best when you treat the internet as a filtering tool, not as the final authority. Build a sensible list, ask consistent questions, verify important details with schools, keep track of uncertainties and use a Ghana visit to validate the final three where possible.