Sawla (N/R), Sept. 15, GNA - Ibis West Africa, a Danish International Development Non Governmental Organization (NGO) has given 35,000 Danish Kronier support to 291 to pupils in Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District to enable them to enrol and stay in school this academic year.
The support, which was in the form of school bags, exercise books, textbooks, pencils, crayons, erasers and slates, was given to the children at a graduation ceremony organized in Tuna following their successful completion of an Ibis funded mother-tongue based functional literacy project for out of school children.
Bicycles were also presented as awards to each of the 13 facilitators of the complementary education project being sponsored by Ibis West Africa in Vagla communities in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District. The Facilitator of the Education for Empowerment Programme of Ibis West Africa, Mr Ayensu-Peter, mentioned that the support was intended to give the children a good start in the formal schools, sharpen their learning skills and also arouse and sustain their interest in school. He also said the presentation was also a way of supporting parents by waiving some expenditure in sending their children to school. Mr Ayensu-Peter said Ibis raised the fund in Denmark to support the implementation of the complementary education project in 25 communities in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District He said a major objective of the complementary education project was to integrate out of school children into the formal school system but there were few schools in the district.
He said there was the need for the government to build more schools in the area so that it would not seem as though children were supported to enter schools which were not there.
The ceremony was attended by traditional rulers, various heads of department and parents of the children.
