From left: Alhassan Abdul-Kahad, Shirley Tony Kum and Aaron Kuwornu
VIVO ENERGY Ghana, distributors and marketers of Shell-branded fuels and lubricants in Ghana, has launched the ‘Vivo Energy Community Digital Literacy Project’ to increase access to relevant educational content through technology among schoolchildren.
The pilot project, which is in partnership with Worldreader and the Northern Regional Library Authority, seeks to reinforce school children’s reading skills and help to mitigate the learning loss caused by the schools’ closure during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.
Shirley Tony Kum, Corporate Communications Manager at Vivo Energy Ghana, speaking at the launch, said the project would promote Sustainable Development Goal 4 of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education within the implementing area.
She said the project, in its first phase, would reach children in over 25 households within the Tamale Metropolis with ‘BookSmart Tablets’, trained home facilitators, and guided lesson plans to create an enabling environment for reading and learning for them.
Mrs Kum indicated that Vivo Energy was committed to implementing educational initiatives that would have a significant impact on the lives of schoolchildren, especially those in marginalised communities.
“As a company committed to fuelling the growth Ghana, we have, and continue to implement various initiatives across the country to improve literacy rates and prepare a more secure workforce for the country’s development. Some of these initiatives include the launch of V-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) to make STEM education more attractive and increase awareness about career opportunities in science and technology, especially among female students,” she said.
Other initiatives include the training of some Senior High School students in Full-Stack Web Development as a foundation for an Advanced Technical Course at Soronko Academy, Ghana’s leading technology and digital skills development centre ;the launch of a one-year intensive Graduate Talent Programme at Vivo Energy Ghana for students from various universities with STEM backgrounds; and the handing over of a renovated and furnished five-unit classroom block to the Brengo Presbyterian School in Asante Mampong.
Alhassan Abdul-Kahad, Programme Manager at Worldreader, said the Vivo Energy Community Digital Literacy Project would help to improve the literacy rate among the youth and help prepare a more secured workforce that would help to accelerate the country’s development.