Meeting reviews CBE programme in West Mamprusi
The West Mamprusi District (WMD) Education Oversight Committee (DEOC) has resolved to supply school uniforms and writing materials to beneficiaries of the Complementary Basic Education (CBE) programme in the district to enhance their enrolment into formal schools.
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The DEOC has also planned to facilitate the construction of more educational infrastructure to avoid overcrowding in classrooms as well as deploy teachers to adequately man the classrooms to ensure improved academic work.
Review meeting
The decision was arrived during a district review meeting on the implementation of the CBE programme in the WMD, organised by CARE International in Ghana at Walewale, the district capital.
The meeting was to enable participants, who included DEOC members, assembly members, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to appreciate the successes and challenges of the CBE in the district and outline practical actions to support the CBE programme.
CBE programme
The CBE programme provides out-of-school children, who are beyond school starting age (eight to 14), the opportunity to acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills within a period of nine months in their mother tongues to facilitate their enrolment into the formal school system.
Since 2014, CARE International in Ghana with funding from United Kingdom (UK) Agency for International Development (UKaid) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been implementing the CBE programme in the WMD recording high numbers of learners some of whom failed to remain at the formal schools after graduation from the CBE programme.
Poverty, crowded classrooms and walking long distances to reach nearest formal schools have been identified as some of the factors accounting for poor transition and retention of CBE leaners in the formal schools.
A total of 5,348 out-of-school children have so far been enrolled for the CBE programme in the WMD since 2014.
Support
The West Mamprusi District Deputy Director of Education, Mr Maxwell Atibire, said the directorate would ensure the provision of school uniforms to CBE learners upon their admission to formal schools to encourage them to remain in school.
Mr Atibire said his outfit would further ensure effective supervision of schools to improve academic exercise while sensitising parents to the CBE programme to help retain CBE graduates in the formal schools.
Interest
The Project Manager in charge of CBE at CARE International in Ghana, Mr George Appiah, said the organisation would continue to work with stakeholders in education in the WMD to provide the necessary support to ensure the success of the CBE in the district.
