In its mission to advance literacy in Ghana’s rural dwelling, Connecting Kids Education Foundation (CKEF), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Monday, commissioned an ultra modern educational facility in the Anum traditional enclave of the Eastern Region.
The facility consists of a 25 and 30-seater fully furnished computer laboratory and library respectively, and is expected to benefit the pupils of the Anum Anglican A&B Primary and Junior High Schools, the Founder and President of CKEF, Mrs. Ellen Blamires, said.
The school, since its establishment in the 1950s, has never seen such an edifice of this nature, simplicity and magnitude, Madam Philomina Gadegbeku Dogbe, Headmistress of Anum Anglican ‘A’ Primary, excitedly told The Chronicle.
She noted that the facility was the first the school has ever had since its establishment –saying this would “really change a lot in the school.” “It would enhance reading in the pupils,” added the Headmistress.
The cost of the project, the President of CKEF said, was in the region of GH¢150,000, and was constructed with the partnership of PW Ghana Limited.
Fair Chance
Speaking during a durbar of chiefs, elders and other stakeholders of the Anum traditional area to commission the facility, Mrs. Blamires said the aim of the CKEF was to provide an enabling environment for learning, giving children in the rural communities a “fairer chance of competing with their city counterparts.”
The commissioning of the library and the ICT centre, she mentioned, was a sign that they were on track to providing every single child the opportunity to thrive at the highest level of education.
CKEF’s chief aim was to improve literacy in Ghana’s rural communities, stated Mrs. Blamires, adding, “We are still only a small charity, but we are growing rapidly, and are ambitious to achieve much more. Our team is passionate and focused on making a lasting difference in the communities where we work.”
She said the CKEF’s bigger objective is to reduce the number of primary pupisl who cannot read to zero in three years, with the focus to prepare and lay a sound foundation at the primary level where education matters most.
“Unless we can improve exam results and provide children here with educational opportunities they could not have previously dreamed of, we will have failed in our bigger objective,” she stressed.
Mrs. Blamires explained that as Ghana moved into the middle income bracket, it had become more critical to provide the younger generation with the right education, though the state would always play a role in such processes, organisations like “the CKEF could be a catalyst for communities seeking to help themselves.”
According to her, the CKEF doesn’t create anything new, it takes what is already there, and works in partnership with others to make it better. She thanked their sponsors, and called on other corporate bodies both national and international to support them in increasing quality literacy level in all the rural communities in Ghana.
Tony Oneill, General Manager of PW Ghana Limited, appealed to the locals to provide good security for the school, to ensure the proper protection of the facilities. According to him, there was no better form of preparation for change than education. “Education for success in this changing world must be forward looking,” demanded Oneill.
He, therefore, urged the community, parents, and teachers to ensure the effective and efficient use of the facility to improve the academic standards of the locals. Dr. Marl Kwamina Appiah, Education Advisor to CKEF, called on teachers to encourage children to build on their existing knowledge of oral and written language.
Children’s early literacy and beginning to read successfully is a collaborative process and shared responsibility that includes teachers, parents and the community, he noted. Nana Kwasi Anyane (IV), on his part, thanked Mrs. Blamires and her partners for their benevolence.