NGO donates textbooks to schools in Nanumba District

Bimbilla, June 21, GNA - The Nanumba Child Development Programme (NCDP), a non-governmental organisation operating in the Nanumba District, has presented textbooks valued at 104.4 million cedis to two junior secondary school libraries and seven primary schools in the district.

The donation was under the auspices of the Assemblies of God Relief and Development Services (AGREDS) with funding from the Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC). It included English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Integrated and Agriculture Science and Religious and Moral Education textbooks.

Mr Alfa Martin, Senior Programme Officer of AGREDS who made the presentation at Bimbilla on Monday, said the donation was to complement the government's efforts at providing education materials for the least endowed schools in rural communities. He appealed to the teachers of the beneficiary schools to take good care of the books and ensure that they did not find their way onto the market for sale.

Mr Bonzali Isaac, the Nanumba District Director of Education who received the textbooks on behalf of the schools, said the government spends about 40 per cent of its recurrent budget on education. Out of this, he said, about 90 per cent of the amount goes into the payment of personnel emolument with the remaining 10 per cent used to run the programmes of educational institutions.

Mr Kwabena Daniel Tutu, Country Director of the CCFC, said though the NCDP was its youngest partner, it was the fastest in terms of initiating development programmes. He said the NCDP was sponsoring about 1,500 children and their families in seven communities in the North and South Nanumba districts to undertake income-generating activities. He said the support had reduced the incidence of young girls in the communities migrating to the south to engage in menial jobs.