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Pencils of Promise, a Non-Governmental Agency has handed over constructed classrooms along other learning facilities to Mafi Atitekpo, a village in the Central Tongu District of the Volta Region.
The NGO’s gesture was part of its campaign to provide safe learning environment with adequate teaching and learning materials for underage pupils to propel growth in Ghana's education system.
The classrooms comprises of teachers' office, separate toilets for male and female pupils, tables and chairs for both teachers and pupils among others.
Country Director of the NGO, Freeman Gobah said the donation was in partnership with the Member of Parliament, Gabby Hotordze and the District Assembly.
“When we came about three years ago about 120 kids were under a tree studying. So we have built a four-unit classroom block with sanitation facilities for them. We spent about GHC180,000 on the project including furniture.”
“The Assembly and the MP provided sand and chippings and the community provided communal labor and that's about 20% on top of what we provided.”
The Headmaster of the Mafi Atitekpo Primary School, George Akporhor narrated how dire the situation was before Pencils of Promise came to the aid of schools saying it was a threat to the children's lives.
“The condition made it difficult for teaching and learning as we usually disperse them whenever it’s cloudy or the sun becomes too hot.”
“So we wrote to them about two years ago and they didn’t hesitate to help with a conducive place with sanitation facilities. We are very grateful to them,” he said.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, both the MP, District Chief Executive as well the education directorate lauded the NGO saying the step would endear an unprecedented development in education sector in the area.
For these state officials, the thrust of public-private partnership in developing education in the in Ghana is at work.
The MP for Central Tongu, Gabby Hotordze further called for unity and urged to youth to abstain from social vices.
In a separate interview, the Country Director of Pencils of Promise, Freeman Gobah told journalists about the organization's plans for the rest of the year after detailing their operation aside infrastructure.
“As an organization, we do not only build classrooms, we support teachers. Out of the 139 schools we have built, 48 of them are benefitting from this and by September we will be adding 20 more. Teachers come for workshops every vacation. We also provide teaching and learning materials to the schools.
“One other thing we are bringing on board three colleges of education so that we start training teachers in innovative ways of teaching before they come out of school. We are sure by September that will come on board,” he added.
The Non governmental organization, is also making remarkable strides in the Volta Region with the introduction of electronic readers in selected primary schools.
“One of flagship programs is electronic readers where each child from primary three to six is given one which has over 100 books on them. We are also expanding that project to 20 more schools. So we are bringing in 2000 more in addition to the 3,400 we already have in the system making 5,400 in 76 schools in the Volta Region.”
Mr. Gobah further explained the success of the project over years using testimonies from teachers and parents.
“Just two weeks ago, we interviewed teachers and it’s all been positive. Some parents have even confirmed that the kids read at home. Analysis from our Monitoring and Evaluation also showed they are improving on their reading abilities and skills. That has encouraged us to bring in more E-readers.”
