KLM partners with GPCC to roll out supplementary education for students across Ghana

The Kingdom Lifestyle Mission (KLM) has partnered with the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council to roll out its supplementary education for students in deprived and needy communities across Ghana.

This means the program which was initially rolled out by KLM in deprived communities such as Donkor Krom, Akplabanya, Elmina and Agbogbloshie will now be piloted in three areas in Accra and subsequently be replicated across the country.

With this new partnership, churches under GPCC will now recruit volunteer teachers and provide infrastructure for running the program nationwide.

Speaking at the official launch of the initiative on Sunday, October 8, 2023, at the climax of the GPCC Week celebration at the Church of Pentecost, Odorkor Central in Accra, the CEO of KLM, Pastor Alex Gyasi said it is in the interest of stakeholders to invest in education, especially in deprived communities.

Empowerment:

"We want to help the underprivileged young children in our communities in Ghana, who do not get good quality education because of economic deprivation, we want to help them improve their prospects by giving them good quality education".

"And we do this by providing supplementary education, what we have realised is that there are some intelligent young people that are unable to go through higher education because they never get the support they need".

By helping them, they can go through higher education and come and lift their families out of poverty, so we will break the cycle of poverty in their communities, that is our vision", he said.

Challenges:

Alex Gyasi mentioned the lack of volunteers and infrastructure as the initial challenges that confronted the initiative since its inception in 2013.

"There are many challenges, first you have to look for a place to hold the classes, you have to look for volunteers, these are all challenging things but we have overcome them by perseverance, there are times that we find it difficult to find a place," he said.

"There was a time we wanted to find a place and we wrote to the Department of Education, and we waited for six months with no response, when we got fed up we went and rented a place for ourselves in Madina and that is how we started the school, so the challenges are there but we are determined to persevere because we don't see any alternative", he added.

Support:

He appealed to corporate organisations, NGOs, and individuals to come on board to support the initiative to help raise the level of education in deprived communities across Ghana.

"We want to invite individuals who have passion for education, corporate institutions, government, anyone who wants to help to come on board, this is not something that we can do by ourselves but at least we can start and that is what we are doing, but to finish it we need help."

"And other churches who probably are not part of GPCC can come on board, if you want to come on board contact us," he said.

Great initiative:

General Secretary of GPCC, Apostle Immanuel NO Tettey on his part described the initiative as a game changer that could fast-track socio-economic development in Ghana.

"I thank God so much for this program, as we all know education is the key transforming agency for any society, so when we learned what KLM was doing with Greater Accra GPCC, we thought it was a great initiative worth supporting, especially in deprived communities"

"It is unique in the sense that it is not expecting support from abroad, we are taking our initiative, the support we are getting from KLM is the concept and methodology which they have used elsewhere like Pakistan, Sudan, Bolivia, and others which has been time tested.

"So we want to as GPCC partner KLM in doing this project, and we believe that many families, children, and communities will be transformed because of the support of this initiative," he said.

About KLM:

Kingdom Lifestyle Mission provides supplementary education for underprivileged children. Running free weekly supplementary Saturday schools and vacation classes during school holidays.

Its goal is to help children in deprived communities by providing them with extra lessons to bridge the gap between them and their more affluent or privileged counterparts.

KLM also freely provides the children in attendance with learning materials, stationery, and a meal. In exceptional cases, KLM puts children who have had to drop out of school back into full-time education.

It currently operates the initiative in Ghana, Pakistan Bulgaria, South Sudan, and Ethiopia.

It was formed in December 2012 and is headed by the Chief Executive Officer, Pastor Alex Gyasi MBE, and his wife, Dorcas Gyasi.

About GPCC:

The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) is a faith-based organisation and the umbrella body of over 200 Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian church denominations and para-church organizations in Ghana.

It was established in 1969 but registered and recognised as a legal entity in 1971 to pursue the unity of the body of Christ, to propagate the gospel, and to meet the spiritual and socio-economic needs of its members and Ghanaians in general.

Representing over 28% of the Christian Community in Ghana (2010 PHC), GPCC is the largest Church Council in Ghana in terms of population and denomination members. The Council is well placed to serve as our nation's lead prophetic voice, advocate, and gatekeeper.

The GPCC works with other sister church councils and partners to undertake several development initiatives in Ghana. The Council has a unique advantage in community mobilisation for social action and development.