2 Child-centred organisations donate to schoolchildren
The Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems (RAINS), in partnership with the Canadian Feed The Children (CFTC), both child-centred non-governmental organisations (NGOs), has provided 85 schoolchildren at Kpachelo, a farming community in the Savelugu/Nanton Municipality in the Northern Region, with educational materials.
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The beneficiaries, who are made up of pupils from the Kpachelo English and Arabic (E/A) Early Childhood and Primary school, as well as some junior high school students from the community, were presented with books, pencils, erasers, slates, school uniforms and bags, to whip up their interest in education and also to motivate them to study hard.
Quality education
The gesture formed part of the Child Sponsorship Programme being implemented by RAINS in Kpachelo, Bidima, Sang and Zosali in the Savelugu/Nanton Municipality, West Gonja and Moin districts respectively, with support from the CFTC, to promote the right of children to basic quality education.
The programme, which is targeted at poor and vulnerable children in the four deprived communities, has so far benefited a total of 1,204 as of the 2014/2015 academic year.
Besides the provision of educational materials, the programme also focuses on school infrastructure and support for teachers to build their capacities and circuit supervisors for effective monitoring of schools to ensure quality education delivery at the basic level of education in the four beneficiary communities.
School infrastructure
Consequently, RAINS and its partners are constructing a new six-unit classroom block for the Kpachelo E/A Early Childhood and Primary School which is at the foundation level, to replace an old structure which had been declared a death trap to the pupils.
Currently the school holds classes under trees due to the cracks developed in the old school block which poses danger to the children.
Speaking at a brief presentation ceremony held at the Kpachelo E/A Early Childhood and Primary School, the Programmes Manager of RAINS, Madam Wedadu Sayibu, said the main goal of RAINS was to collaborate with other stakeholders to enhance children's access to quality basic education in deprived communities.
Support for teachers
Aside from the provision of the educational materials, school infrastructure and support for teachers, Madam Sayibu said RAINS and CFTC were also into food security and livelihood improvement programmes to support women from the two beneficiary communities to engage in farming, bee-keeping, and small ruminants rearing to generate extra income to support the education of their children and for the benefit of the entire community.
She noted that though early childhood education was part of Ghana's basic education system, it had largely been underserved with teachers, school facilities and teaching and learning materials, hence the decision by CTFC and RAINS to provide a good start for children in their educational endeavours.
Advice to parents
Madam Sayibu urged parents to support the education of their children since it was the greatest legacy they could bequeath to them.
The Headteacher of the Kpachelo E/A Basic School, Mr Abubakari Awal, expressed his appreciation to the two NGOs for the support and appealed to parents to complement the efforts of the organisations by providing the basic education needs of their children and to show respect and appreciation to teachers for their efforts to ensure quality education delivery in the community.
School Feeding Programme
He said the school was a beneficiary of the government's School Feeding Programme but the caterers did not prepare food regularly for the pupils while the food served was also inadequate.
Mr Awal added that the school currently held classes under trees because they were advised by the Savelugu/Nanton Municipal Assembly to vacate the classroom blocks that had developed cracks since it posed a danger to the children, and appealed for the early completion of the new school block to enable them to move in.
