Facilitators trained for CBE programme
AFRIKIDS Ghana, in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and selected district assemblies, has held a three-week intensive training course for 224 facilitators of the Ghana Complementary Basic Education (CBE) programme at Pusu Namogo in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.
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The facilitators, who are from six districts namely Bongo, Bawku, Pusiga,Talensi and Nabdam in the Upper East Region and Karaga in the Northern Region, were equipped with the requisite skills to enable them to run functional literacy programmes for out-of-school children in their districts. The training was conducted for the facilitators in local languages such as Grunne, Kusaal and Dagbani.
The facilitators are expected to go back to their respective communities and help provide nine-month afternoon classes for 5,600 children who are out of school in the six beneficiary districts — in their mother tongue — after which the children will be enrolled into formal schools.
CBE programme
Afrikids Ghana, a child rights non-governmental organisation, is one of the 10 implementing partners of the CBE programme and had for the past two years supported 3,875 out-of-school children in the Bongo,Talensi and Nabdam districts.
The CBE, which is now in its third year, is an initiative of the Ministry of Education and the GES, with sponsorship from the Department for International Development (DFID) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Country Director of Afrikids, Ghana, Mr Nicholas Kumah, observed that the training programme would ultimately enable the facilitators to appreciate the need for functional literacy for out-of-schoolchildren in their respective communities.
Refresher training
Mr Kumah announced that there would be two more refresher training programmes for facilitators from December this year to April 2016.
The director commended DFID and USAID for supporting the CBE intervention, and advised the facilitators to see their work as an opportunity to develop their potential for the future and work closely with members of the School Management and Local Committees.
The CBE Project Coordinator of Afrikids, Mr Richard Amoah, entreated the beneficiary districts to complete the identification of learners before the CBE programme for this academic year takes off this month.
A Resource Person, Mr Joseph Ayariga, said the participants were taken through phonic awareness which would enable them to communicate effectively with the children to understand their lessons.