AMA, USAID Provide Salvation Army ,Cluster of Schools Another New Block

Salvation Army ,Cluster of Schools Another New Block

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), with the support of the United States of America aid project, has provided the Salvation Army Cluster of Schools with sixteen new classrooms, a computer and science laboratory, library, 36 toilets and office block.

The new school block, which has been named after President Barrack Obama, is one of the four schools being sponsored at the cost of $2.7 million by the USA aid project.

The new President Barrack Obama Educational Centre for Excellence is aimed at providing modern accommodation for school children and was commissioned on last week Thursday at Lartebiokoshie, Accra.

The Mayor of Accra, Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, told the gathering at the ceremony that about 79,000 children were suffering from the just-ended shift system, which was a heavy yoke on the neck of the pupils and their teachers.

He said the shift system by then, did not only have a negative impact on the hours of studies, but also the conditions under which teachers and the pupils interact were unfavourable.

He pledged that 100 of such facilities would be built to expand access to basic education. "75 of such buildings are on-going in the metropolis. I, together with the assembly members and the Presiding Member, would ensure that the people of Accra have 100 of such buildings."

The Minister of Education, Prof. Mrs. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, commended the assembly for the initiative to provide a conducive environment for teaching and learning, and called on the teachers and school heads to support the children acquire the requisite knowledge to move up on the education ladder.

She also urged the pupils to stay in school and learn to acquire knowledge to develop their communities and themselves.

The USA Ambassador to Ghana, Gene A. Cretz, applauded the country for its efforts to make access to quality basic education a priority.

The Ambassador indicated that the USA was committed to make sure every child got quality education, for which $19.7 million would be provided to the Ministry of Education for schools to be built in all the districts across the country.

He estimated that about 250 schools would be built in the proposed budget to cater for over 10,000 school going-children.

"School is not just the building, but [a] place where teachers are ready to teach, and children ready to learn to transform, not just themselves, but their nation and the entire world," he advised.

Sheila Addison, Director of USAID project, said Ghana was among 20 new countries that had eradicated child illiteracy to make way for good education and equal access.

She appealed to parents to assist teachers by ensuring that they sent their wards to school on time, and help them to work hard to complete school.