Bawku Municipal Director of Education, Joseph Azumtaba, has called on the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders to throw in their support to expand the Complementary Basic Education program to capture all out-of-school children.
According to him, “the CBE classes are of good value for money and need regular funding for its sustainability”.
The Complementary Basic Education program is program meant to provide all out-of-school children with the needed numeracy and literacy skills in their mother tongue to enable them access grades 3 or 4 primary school through an accelerated approach especially to their needs. The program which covers 5,614 learners in six operational districts including Pusiga, Bongo, Bawku/Binduri, Talensi and Nabdam as well as Karaga in the Northern Region is sponsored by USAID and DFID with Afikids Ghana being an implementing partner.
Mr. Azumtaba made this call in Zabugu, Tuesday, when 1740 out-of-school children who were enrolled in the program and have successfully completed and are ready to be enrolled into mainstream primary education were graduating.
He noted that support from Afrikids Ghana to the programme has demonstrably improved the children who have been readied to join mainstream classes mentioning that” the Ghana Education Service would want to expand the provision of CBE throughout, to all hard to reach communities”.
This expansion and improvement of quality, proximity and standard of the program he noted, could be improved only with support in terms financial and material resources from benevolent organizations and all well-meaning citizens.
On his part, Country Director of Afrikids Ghana, Mr. Nicholas Kumah, promised of a continuous partnership with Assemblies, Ghana Education Service and all stakeholders to make basic education accessible to the most vulnerable in the coming years.
He noted that most learners who benefitted from the programme for the first and second cycle in other districts are progressing well in their schools, an indication that those districts were ready to drive the program after Afikids Ghana. Mr. Kumah therefore called on the Ghana Education Service Directorate and Assembly in Zubugu to provide support for the children.
The Afrikids Country Director underscored the need for parents to support the children as they enter formal education because it will be disappointing if they neglect their responsibilities and make them drop out.
The CBE learning process was facilitated by 72 facilitators selected from 53 communities in Bawku, Pusiga and Binduri. Each grandaunt received a certificate and AFRIKIDS Ghana has made available 22,000 pieces of exercise books with each of them receiving 4 pieces with pencils and erasers as they start primary education in September 2016.
By: Offei-Akoto Ayeh | A1RADIOONLINE.com | GHANA
