Children at Garu prepared for formal Education

One thousand children out of school at Garu in the Upper East Region, have been trained and prepared by Action Aid Ghana, under the Complimentary Basic Education (CBE) programme, for formal Education.

The children from eight to 14 years could not go to school or continue their education due to financial problems and family issues.

Action-aid Ghana a non- governmental organisation working to improve on the livelihood of the people in the area, in collaboration with the Garu-Tempane District Assembly, trained the children in basic literacy and numeracy skills in their local language (Kusaal) for nine months.

The organisation which also doubles as a human rights activist considers child education a key priority and aims at preparing and enrolling children out of school into the mainstream educational system.

Mr Yakubu Akuka, the Programme Co-ordinator of CBE, who was speaking at the graduation ceremony of the children at Garu, said the progarmme started in 1966 with shepherd schools in the Region after a research carried out in 1994, showed that about 66 per cent of school going age children were out of school.

Mr Akuka said out of the 1,000 learners enrolled, 561 were boys while 483 were girls from 38 communities in the District.

He said the teachers were also trained and the schools were provided with teaching and learning materials.

Mr Akuka who described the CBE classes as one the best educational programmes in the country said 40 CBE classes were established and learners were assessed to ascertain their understanding in the lessons before they were graduated.

He said the programme also prepared the children intellectually and psychologically to be in school.

Mr Akuka urged government to extend educational infrastructure to the communities in the area in order to compliment the CBE programme.

He said since there was the need to bring education to the door steps of the people, there was the need for to establish new schools in communities that did not have access to formal education.

He expressed dissatisfaction about the distance some children had to travel for education, saying that formed part of the issues that discouraged children especially girls and parents from sending small children to school.

He commended the Department for International Development who were the main donors of the programme and urged all to emulate the gesture since education was the bedrock for national development.

Mr Patrick Awugah, the District Assistant Director of Education, asked parents to desist from engaging their children in marriage and rather focus on their education because that would benefit them better.

Mr Emmanuel Avoka Asore, the District Chief Executive, commended Action-aid Ghana and the CBE programme for the enormous strides made towards improving education in the area.

He said the District Assembly would complement the efforts by making provision to integrate the graduates into the normal educational programme at the beginning of the academic year.

Mr Asore urged head teachers and educational authorities to ensure that all children trained under the CBE programme gained admission.