Prez Mahama launches free school sandals programme
President John Mahama yesterday launched the free school sandals programme with the presentation of 10,000 pairs of made-in-Ghana sandals to the Ghana Education Service (GES) for distribution to schools in deprived communities.
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This social intervention was launched at Ada Foah in the Greater Accra Region and is targeted at children in deprived schools.
The sandals, popularly, known in the past as 'Achimota Sandals', were manufactured by the Defence Industrial Holding Corporation (DIHOC), formerly the Kumasi Shoe Factory of the defunct Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation (GIHOC).
During his State of the Nation address to Parliament earlier this year, President Mahama promised to provide 10,000 free made-in-Ghana sandals to pupils in basic schools this year as part of a package to enhance education delivery.
He said the decision to provide the sandals was also premised on what was observed during the distribution of the free school uniforms.
"In many of the schools we distributed uniforms, we realised that many of the children did not have school sandals," he explained.
He expressed the hope that the sandals would further cushion parents expenditure on their children’s education.
President Mahama said also that the other social intervention programmes introduced in the educational sector were making strong impacts on the education of schoolchildren. For instance, he said, the complementary basic education programme targeted at getting out-of-school children back to the classrooms had achieved 95 per cent success, thus meeting the Millennium Development Goals target.
Another 100,000 school-age children had been enrolled in schools.
President Mahama said the Ministry of Education had begun the distribution of 30,000 computers to schools.
Besides, 500,000 school uniforms and 15 million exercise books would be distributed freely to schoolchildren this year and added that six million textbooks were being printed for distribution to pupils.
Community SHS
Touching on the community senior high school project, President Mahama said construction work on the first 50 were progressing and that some had already been completed.
He indicated that the World Bank was financing another 23, while this year the government would award contracts for another 50, bringing the total to 123.
The President expressed the hope that some of the projects would be ready for students when the progressively free, compulsory education for day students took off next academic year.
Ada’s development
President Mahama stated that the government took great interest in the development of Ada, therefore the road from Kasseh to Ada Foah had been given out on contract for reconstruction.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, appealed to parents to take keen interest in the education of their children.