Aiyinasi Hassaniya Islamic basic school inaugurates library

The Hassaniya Islamic Basic School at Nzema Aiyinasi-Basake in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region has established its own library for pupils and staff.

This first-ever library in the school was established by the management and Parent Teacher Association (PTA) of the school.

It will encourage and improve the reading ability of the pupils and also help them to experience new ideas. The school also inaugurated an ICT laboratory and a sick bay for the pupils and the staff.

Speaking at the colourful ceremony amidst adherence to Coronavirus safety protocols on Thursday, March 11, 2021, Mr Ali Kwasi Pennah, the Headmaster of the school gave thanks to the teaching body and the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) for coming up with the idea to put up this library and stated it would go a long way to help the children and the staff as well.

He also thanked the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle Constituency, Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah and a Philanthropist, Mr Kofi Anaman for supporting the new library with some books.

Mr Ali said reading helps children to contribute effectively to issues of national interest.

"... best-informed citizens are able to contribute effectively to issues under discussion, the well-being of the society and the nation at large. This habit is only cultivated very early in a child's development when parents, siblings and the community express interest in the reading by practical demonstrations for the young ones to emulate", he said.

“Sadly, the culture of reading is dying out in our current generation. However, we all know that reading is in fact, the way out of ignorance and the road to achievement in this life of academic age," he added.

He stated that: "It is in this view that there is the need for a more-learner concepted approach to education as... by the current changes in the Basic School Curriculum, that the staff and management of this school thought it wise to collect books and reserve from the office of the Headmaster to put up this library for use".

He said the library would be of utmost benefit to the entire learning-community of the school.

He pledged that the school is determined to use its limited resources to make the library bigger to benefit other schools within Aiyinasi and Basake communities.

He also called on all the stakeholders to come together to improve the school's iconic status in Ellembelle District for other Districts to copy.

"...Hassaniya Islamic Basic School has great potentials of growth, development and it about time we all come together to explore this to make this school to iconic and model school and other Districts to emulate", he stated.

He, therefore, took the platform to appeal to companies and also the old students of the school to face-lift other facilities in the school.

The Western Regional Manager of Islamic Schools, Alhaji Mohammed Yakubu expressed his profound appreciation to the management of the Hassaniya Islamic Basic School for the establishment of the library and the ICT laboratory.

He also applauded the teachers for helping the school children to learn hard. He also took the opportunity to advise the parents not to allow their wards to use phones to distract their academic works.

The Chairman of the ceremony and an executive member of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), Mr Matthew Gyimah said the establishment of the library would go a long way to help the school children to learn hard in this era of Coronavirus pandemic.

He urged the pupils to make good use of the library to widen their knowledge. A fundraiser was held to raise money to sustain and maintain the library to last longer.

Mr Gyimah, therefore, seized the opportunity to laud companies in the District for their support they were given to the district but called on Ghana Gas Company and ENI Gas to support the Hassaniya Islamic Basic School library with other facilities.

However, Hassaniya Islamic Basic School started as a "Makalanta School" in the center of Aiyinasi Zongo where children were only taught Arabic on January 4th, 1988 with a student population of thirty-two (32).

On September 1, 1988, the government of Ghana absorbed the school as a circular school and was relocated to its current location (in between Aiyinasi and Basake road). The school currently has a student population of over seven hundred (700) and it starts from KG to JHS 3.