Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Hon. Dzifa Gomashie, together with Francis Xavier Sosu, a youth activist lawyer, have visited centres hosting the free community vacation school classes which are ongoing in the Madina-La Nkwatanan Municipality.
The free community vacation school programme which is organised by Lawyer Francis Xavier Sosu’s foundation, Centre for Poverty Alleviation (CPA) and supported by Values for Life Foundation, (VLF) an organization established by the deputy culture minister is targeted at poor and deprived pupils within the municipality as part of efforts by the renowned human rights lawyer, who lives within the Madina municipality, to help sustain the interest of pupils in education.
During a tour to the five centres, Lawyer Sosu revealed that, he has been undertaking the community outreach programme since 2011 and has expanded it to other centres where teachers focus on teaching Mathematics, English and Science.
The centres include Oyarifa, Teiman, Pantang, Adenta West and Nkwantanan.
Lawyer Sosu said VLF engages participants in culture and creative arts activities once in a week at no cost.
He said his motivation for the outreach stemmed out of his personal experience, growing up as a poor and deprived child.
He noted that there were a good number of pupils who were very brilliant but for the lack of finances and other resources, were unable to come to the fullest realisation of their potential.
According to him, “my goal is to give my little support to these children in the hope that they can grow to become what they were meant to be in this life and for them to make meaningful contribution to national development.”
Mr. Sosu said the special outreach programme had been approved and supported by the municipal directorate of education and the Girl Child Unit and expressed gratitude to the various head teachers and volunteer teachers who had made the classes possible.
For her part, Hon. Gomashie called on pupils to see it as their responsibility to use the vacation classes as a platform to change their academic fortunes and shape their future for the better.
She challenged them to excel in their study and focus on what they were learning so as to always be at the top.
“As children you have a role to play to ensure that efforts of teachers become beneficial,” she said.
In an interview, she commended lawyer Sosu and the Centre for Poverty Alleviation for the initiative.
However, the program which is coming to a close would be climaxed with a durbar at the Madina-La Nkwantanan Cluster of schools on Thursday, 27th August, 2015 where deserving students will be awarded for their commitment and excellent performance during the classes.
Meanwhile, the pupils and teachers have expressed gratitude to Lawyer Sosu and Hon. Gomashie for the kind gesture.
