NGO motivates teachers in partner schools

Tamale, April 13, GNA - A Tamale-based NGO dedicated to providing humanitarian and development services to deprived communities, has presented bicycles and television sets to teachers from five districts in the Northern and Upper East Regions to motivate them to enhance teaching and learning.

The Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems (RAINS made the donation comprising 30 bicycles, 10 television sets and 10 ghetto blasters valued at about 75 million cedis to teachers in the West Gonja, Savelugu/Nanton and Tolon/Kumbungu Districts in the Northern Region, and Bongo and Kassena Nankana Districts in the Upper East Regions. The NGO is currently supporting 2,500 children from the five districts who are prone to child trafficking, to be in school. Mrs. Katumi Fuseini, a board Member of RAINS who presented the items to the beneficiary teachers, said the gesture was also to ensure that teachers in the NGO's partner schools were well catered for. She said the poverty levels in the North had contributed immensely to the child trafficking problem, adding that RAINS, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), was working hard to address the issue.

Mrs. Fuseini said: "Child trafficking violates children's rights to healthy childhood", and called on all stakeholders to help stop the practice in the country and ensure that children of school going age attended school.

Mr. Sulemana Nyadia, Child Trafficking Project Manager of RAINS said his organisation was also providing teachers in RAINS partner schools in the five districts with other incentives to enable them to organise remedial classes for children to improve their educational standards.

The NGO had also distributed sets of jerseys, footballs, school uniforms, exercise books and other educational support materials to 2,500 children from the five districts, he added. He announced a programme by RAINS to educate chiefs and other opinion leaders in the Upper East Region about the dangers of child trafficking to equip them to help address the problem in their communities.

Ms Habiba Seidu, Girl Child Education Coordinator in the West Gonja District who received the equipment on behalf of the other beneficiaries, pledged the commitment of teachers in the partner schools to the project adding: "We will do our best to improve teaching and learning in those schools".