Special programme for out-of-school children
The Kwahu North District Assembly in the Eastern Region has rolled out a programme to capture children aged eight to 14 who are out of school and prepare them for the mainstream school system.
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Special programme
Under the programme, such children would be encouraged to enrol in a special programme dubbed: ”Students’ Absenteeism Complementary Basic Education”, during which special intensive classes would be organised for them at a convenient time that would benefit their communities.
The programme, sponsored by the UNICEF, is being implemented by the Afram Plains Development Organisation in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Tuition is done only in the local language (L1) by trained facilitators within a nine-month period after which they will be enrolled in the mainstream school system.
The Afram Plains is noted for a high number of school dropouts who are either helping their parents on their farms or selling in the market. The children are allowed to perform their daily duties before attending classes.
significance
The District Director of Education, Mr Gabriel Adu, who disclosed that in an interview, said if the programme was not in place, “we would have lost them because they could not start education from the pre-school or class one.”
He said the programme, which was introduced two years ago, had registered significant successes.
For instance, he said in the first year, 20 communities within the district benefited from the programme, and added that the number increased to 30 communities in the second year and was hopeful that it would even be more this year.
Touching on the numbers, Mr Adu said about 25 children were in each class in every community and added that in all, about 1,250 children had so far benefited from the programme and expressed the hope that, “the number will continue to increase until we are able to capture all such children.”
He said so far, the first batch had been enrolled in Primary Two and Three, “and they are doing very well.”