Six-unit classroom block for Blekusu R. C. Basic
A Six-Unit classroom block with sanitation facilities valued at $81,250 (about GH¢332,300) has been inaugurated for the Blekusu Roman Catholic (RC) Basic School in the Ketu-South municipality in the Volta Region.
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The project was carried out by Pencils of Promise, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) with self-help contributions from the Ketu-South Municipal Assembly and the Blekusu community.
The NGO provided 80 per cent of the total cost of the project, while the beneficiary community, the municipal assembly and benevolent individuals also provided unskilled labour and cash donations to cover the rest of the project cost.
Pencils of Promise will also furnish the classrooms and train teachers on innovative teaching methodologies.
Commissioning
A grand durbar held last Tuesday at Blekusu, near Denu to inaugurate the facility, saw an assembly of traditional rulers, educationists, representatives from the Ketu-South Municipal Assembly and a section of the public.
Until the construction of the facility, pupils of the Blekusu R.C. Basic School had their lessons in a dilapidated structure, a situation that forced many parents to transfer their children to other schools farther away from the community.
As a result, the school, which was established in 1930, currently has only 260 pupils from kindergarten to junior high school.
Relief
The Headmistress of the school, Ms Benedicta H. Yibor, said the construction of the classrooms was a huge relief to the school, stressing that, “it is time for parents who took their wards to other schools because of the lack of a school building to bring them back."
She further asked for support from NGOs, the Ghana Education Service (GES) and benevolent individuals to provide information and communications technology (ICT) equipment to facilitate the teaching and learning of the subject.
Plans for expansion
For his part, the Country Director of Pencils of Promise, Mr Freeman Gobah, gave an assurance that the NGO's pre-occupation was to reach out to as many rural deprived schools as possible.
"Since we started work in the country in 2012, we have built 96 school blocks in the Volta and Eastern regions. It is our plan to build 40 more schools in 2017 for other deprived areas in the remaining regions.
"We have also offered scholarships to some students in senior high schools as part of initiatives to boost academic performance," he said.
Other speakers took turns to advise parents and pupils to take advantage of the building to improve academic performance.