Some of the GEOP facilitators with their motorbikes
The Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has awarded motorbikes to six facilitators of the Ghana Education Outcomes Project (GEOP) for their relentless efforts in improving education and learning in rural communities in Tamale in the Northern Region.
GEOP is a World Bank and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) project in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service, to reintegrate children between the ages of eight and 16 who have never been to school before or have dropped out of school for not more than one academic year.
In a speech read by Nana Baffour Awuah on behalf of the sector minister, he expressed satisfaction at the education outcomes-based design, which is the largest in the world (sub-Saharan Africa).
He said after its successful launch, GEOP has stood the test of time due to the tenacity and resilience of all critical stakeholders.
According to him, over the past two years, the ministry, through this innovative programme has graduated and transitioned two cohorts of the Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) into the Mainstream School Improvement Programme (MSIP).
“It is worth noting that children who could not read and write can now read and calculate basic numeracy equations with delight. In addition, I am reliably informed that these children are now eloquently reading Bibles to their parents and guardians, which is so refreshing to hear,” Mr. Awuah stated.
The programme is run across some number of regions including Savanna Region, Oti Region, Northern Region, Bono East Region, and North East Region, and about 21,103 learners have graduated and transitioned into cohort 2 of the project.
As part of the sector minister’s personal contribution towards the success of the project, he presented 35,000 uniforms to the students and also awarded the best facilitators in the six lots of the programme.
The Coordinator of the GEOP project, Hajia Nana Fatima High, praised the facilitators of the project for their dedication and commitment toward achieving the aims of the project, and encouraged them to sensitise parents of the children and the respective communities of their operations to keep their wards in school to fully benefit from the project.
Miss. Mercy, a facilitator with the GEOP project in Karachi in the Oti and one of the six recipients of the motorbikes who could not hide her joy, expressed her gratitude to the sector minister for the kind gesture.
“I am thankful to the sector minister for the motorbike because it will go a long way to help me carry out my duties as a facilitator,” she said.
Mercy, who walks several kilometres to get to her school where she is a facilitator said hitherto, she has had to walk several kilometres to get to school.
“I have always had to report to school very late due to the distance I have to walk from my home to my school. This has greatly affected my targets and outputs and with this motorbike, I will be able to report to school on time, do follow-ups on my students, visit them in their homes to confer with their parents and try to understand their plight, so as to adequately support them in their learning,” she added.
FROM Eric Kombat
