Pupils benefit from free supplementary School project in Elmina

A free supplementary school for more than 600 underprivileged pupils in Elmina and its environs in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality was on Tuesday launched by Kingdom Lifestyle Mission (KLM), a United Kingdom based Christian Non- Governmental Organization (NGO).

The weekend and vacation school which started in April becomes the second of such initiatives launched by the NGO after it was piloted in Madina-Zongo in Accra while a third one has been initiated at Ada awaiting official launch.

The Chief Executive Officer of KLM, Pastor Alex Gyasi, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the launch in Cape Coast said the initiative was aimed at improving the standard of education in deprived communities by helping beneficiaries to relearn subjects after school to ensure better understanding.

Mr Gyasi, Senior Pastor of Highway of Holiness Church in London, said it was necessitated by fact that it was the responsibility of Christians to help society and not to only rely on prayers for change.

He said even though the initiative had a Christian background it was open to all irrespective of religious affiliation.

He said KLM, established in Ghana in November 2013 but officially launched on April 3, 2014, derived its vital support from university graduates and under graduates who voluntarily give their time, skills and knowledge to teach the children.

Mr Gyasi said plans were far advanced to establish similar projects in other parts of the country especially where there were tertiary students to volunteer as well as partner various organizations to cater for the needs of street children in Ghana.

The four-hour classes take pupils through English, Mathematics and Science in addition to moral studies and the provision of free lunch.

The Elmina branch has more than 600 beneficiaries with 30 volunteer teachers made up of students from the University of Cape Coast and other qualified teachers from Elmina.

Rev. Mrs. Joyce Madjitey, Deputy Director of KEEA Municipal Education Office in Charge of Human Resource Management, commended the initiative and the positive effect on the pupils and urged parents and the society to support the initiative.

Ms. Charity Dogbe, a 22-year-old School dropout and mother of two children, expressed her gratitude to KLM for rekindling her desire to retrace her steps back to the classroom.

Ms Dogbe, whose children are aged three years and 18 months respectively, said she dropped out of school in 2011 when she was in Junior High School form one.

She said due to her first pregnancy she found it difficult to go back to school until she heard about the project and decided to enroll.

Ms Dogbe, who is currently in form two in junior high school and is on educational scholarship from KLM, advised the youth to concentrate on their academic work and be obedient to their parents and the elderly in society as well as eschew worldly pleasure and peer pressure.

Some parents took turns to testify about the remarkable improvement in the academic performance of their children and were grateful that KLM had brought such a project to their community.