Three hundred and thirty learners graduate from literacy classes

Chiana (U/E), July 19, GNA - Three hundred and thirty young learners have graduated after nine-months training under the Convenient Learning and Strategic Solution on National Education (CLASSONE) literacy programme at Chiana, Upper East Region.

CLASSONE is a complementary basic education project being implemented in the Kassena-Nankana West District by Roots and Futures, a Non-governmental organisation, to provide out-of-school children an opportunity to acquire basic literacy skills for integration into the formal educational system or for self development.

It is funded by the Danish-supported School for Life based in the Northern Region.

The project is being operated in 12 communities of the Kassena Nankana West District, where every community has 25 learners who are taught how to make simple calculations in Mathematics, read and write the local language (Kasem).

They attend school at their own convenience and parents are supposed to chose five days in a week, which starts during the dry season.

Mr Togiyigah Aka Anthony, Desk Officer, said 108 CLASSONE graduates were integrated into the formal school system last year and were placed at various grades ranging from primary one to four.

He noted that the placement was based on their performance in basic literacy.

Mr Togiyigah indicated that the CLASSONE children were competing favorably with their counterparts in the formal sector and some even performed better, especially the girls.

He said CLASSONE started with Kawenia Community near Nakong were the children were currently housed in a mud building, dilapidated and poorly ventilated and therefore appealed to the District Chief Executive for Kassena-Nankana West to provide the community with a school.

Mr Togiyigah appealed to School for Life to give an orientation to the Desk Officer of CLASSONE to enable him to do his work effectively and efficiently.

He called on parents, guardians and teachers, to fully embrace the package and give it maximum support to enable it to succeed.

He urged the graduates to be self disciplined and hardworking so as to justify the huge investment the project had made and continued to make.

Mr Thomas Dalu, District Chief Executive for the Kassena-Nankana West, noted that plans were in the pipeline to expand the classroom facilities and accommodation for teachers as well as improve sanitation and water supply in the educational institutions at the basic level.

He called on the learners to continue to be of good behavior and appealed to the organizers, supervisors and facilitators of the programme to be extra patient with the young ones.

Ayikuu Selina, one of the graduates, told the Ghana News Agency that she used not to know how to read and write and made simple calculations but now with the intervention of Roots and Futures she was able to do both.

Another graduate, Amediko Ebenezer, said his father was not in support of him going to school, instead he was a shepherd but when Roots and Futures came, they were able to convince the father about the importance of education adding that he could now read and write and make calculations.