GBT supplies books to basic schools in Ahafo-Ano South

Mankranso (Ash), Aug. 26, GNA - The Ghana Book Trust (GBT) has so far supplied about 77,635 local and foreign books to all basic schools in the Ahafo-Ano South District of Ashanti.

The supply of the books has provided every primary school child in the District with five books.

Mr Robert K. Amoako, Executive Director of GBT, who announced this, said the Trust would supply about 31,054 books, mostly in Twi to schools in the district to raise the ratio to one child to seven books. He was speaking at the opening of a two-week in-service training workshop in the teaching of reading for primary schools in the District. The workshop is a continuation of the primary schools library project being sponsored by GBT with support from the Canadian Organisation for Development of Education (CODE) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Mr Amoako said the primary school library development started in the District with the training of one teacher from each of the 105 primary schools in library management.

In 2004, all the primary one teachers were trained in reading skills, which also included circuit officers who were expected to monitor the use and adoption of the methodologies as part of their routine work. He said in 2005, all the 210 classes two and three teachers in the District would be trained in the teaching of reading and added that gender sensitisation and HIV/AIDS awareness, two contemporary issues had been added to the training programmes.

The GBT, Mr Amoako said provided 60 million cedis to the Ghana Education Service (GES) for the HIV/AIDS sensitisation programme for Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), School Management Committees (SMCs), teachers and the formation of virgins clubs in all schools. Mr Sampson Amofa-Krah, District Director of Education, appealed to the GBT to extend the programme to the upper primary since the pupils were preparing towards the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

Mr J.K. Baffoe, Headmaster of Mankranso Secondary/Technical School, urged the participants to take the workshop seriously so that they could teach what they learnt to the pupils.