A Library and computer laboratory was on Tuesday inaugurated and handed over to Oshiyie Basic School in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.
The facilities, provided by Future Scholars of the World Incorporation, a US-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), at an estimated cost of 12,000 dollars, are to improve teaching and learning within the community.
The two facilities have a total sitting capacity of 60 people.
Inaugurating the facility at a short ceremony in Accra, the Executive Director of the NGO, Madam Adjoa Gzifa, said the gesture formed part of efforts to contributing to the development of the school.
She said it was in fulfilment of a request by the school to provide them with computer lab and library to enhance the skills of the students in Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) and reading.
She said the NGO adopted the school in 2005 during a tour of the community and decided to support and provide them with quality education.
“We first started by paying tuition for all the children attending the Oshiyie school. When the government made the schools tuition free, we began to focus on development. A well-built toilet was placed on the grounds together with some classroom blocks for the students,” she added.
Madam Gzifa said the students were also provided with uniforms, instructional materials, sewing machines, building tools and microscopes as well as personal hygiene items through their Girls Period Programme to help them meet their goals.
She said the NGO believed that the facility would improve teaching and learning of the students in the school.
The Municipal Officer in charge of School Improvement, Mr Nukpe Delali Kwasi, in a speech read on behalf of the Municipal Director of Education, lauded the NGO for the facility, saying it was in line with the assembly’s vision to improve teaching and learning in the community.
He said the world was now an ICT age and in order to be effective in the increasingly technology driven economy, every child should be given the opportunity to learn and develop skills in the new field.
He implored the school’s management to develop a healthy maintenance culture to ensure the facilities last, and entreated the NGO to extend its benevolence to other schools in the community since they also needed help.
The Head of Corporate Affairs at the Ghana Tourism Authority, Mr Jones Aruna Nelson, said the initiative was good and in line with the Authority’s “Give Back to Ghana” project as the US-based NGO had done.
“We recognise the initiative and call upon our other brothers and sisters in the diaspora to also do same by giving back to Ghana to develop the country,” he added.
The Headmistress of the school, Ms Mary Cleland, thanked the NGO for their selfless commitment and support offered the school over the years and promised to ensure that the facilities are put to good use to achieve their purpose.
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR
