BY: Kofi Gamor | Voltaonlinegh.com |
Non-governmental organization Pencils of Promise (PoP) has partnered with Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Complementary Education Agency to provide educational materials to the Ho Central Prisons.
The gesture, which is aimed at supporting formal education within the correctional facility, is in line with the Complementary Basic Education (CBE) programme, introduced by the government in 2020 under Act 1055 of Parliament.
Mr. Prince Richard Dada-Addo, Volta/Oti Regional Director of the Complementary Education Agency, underscored the programme’s objective of bridging the literacy gap in Ghana and reintegrating beneficiaries into formal education or skill training, to promote self-reliance.
He further stated that, the programme offers accelerated learning classes in local communities to out-of-school children aged 8 to 14. After a 9-month intensive period, many students are reintegrated into the formal education system.
Items donated include textbooks covering various subjects, notebooks, exercise books, teachers’ resource packs, whiteboards, markers, whiteboard cleaners, and desks.
Mr. Freeman Gobbah, Country Director of Pencils of Promise, highlighted the importance of providing formal education to all citizens, including those in prison, stressing the need for the government and Ghana Education Service to ensure the sustainability of the complementary basic education programme.
‘As an organisation, our primary focus is on the traditional school system, but we also believe that, education as right should not only be limited those in the formal school system, but should be accessible to everyone including prison inmates.,’ he stated
The Deputy Commander of the Ho Central Prisons, C/Supt. Francis Dotsey, expressed gratitude for the donation and acknowledged the prison’s efforts to provide formal education to 50 students under the CBE programme. He thus, appealed for regular supply of teaching and learning materials to the facility to support both current and future students.
On his part, the Volta Regional Public Relations Officer of GES, Mr. Forgive Yao Agohah, assured that the directorate would supervise the use of the donated items to ensure their proper utilization and positive impact on education for all.
Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com