By Yussif Ibrahim
Obuasi (Ash), July 17, GNA – AngloGold Ashanti, Obuasi Mine has been praised for its numerous initiatives targeting the improvement in learning outcomes in Obuasi East District and Obuasi Municipality.
Mr George Alfred Koomson, the Obuasi Municipal Director of Education who made the commendation, said the mining firm had immensely impacted education in the two districts.
Speaking at the closing of a three-day training for early grade teachers, Mr Koomson said huge investments have been made in education by AngloGold Ashanti.
He said the company in 2019 had organised numerous training workshops for teachers, provided various learning materials to schools as well as built educational infrastructure.
“AGA has been organizing quiz competitions for schools with mouth-watering prizes, they have been organizing workshops for teachers and put up modern infrastructural facilities,” he said
He said these were remarkable interventions that had significantly improved the quality of education in the area.
Touching on the purpose of the training, he said a review of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results revealed that most students could not read and understand the questions asked in the exams.
He said the situation brought to the fore the need to tackle the problem at the foundation level hence targeting teachers at the early grade to improve on reading abilities of pupils.
Over 500 teachers from the two districts benefited from the training which focused on transition from Ghanaian Language of instruction to English Language.
Mr Edmond Oduro Agyei. Stakeholders Engagement Superintendent of AngloGold Ashanti said, improving quality education in Obuasi featured prominently in the company’s Socio-Economic Development Plan launched in 2022.
He said the decision to sponsor the training was informed by feedback received from the education directorates which suggested something had to be done to address the inability of pupils to read and understand questions.
“We collaborated with GES to assess the impact of our previous training programs. The feedback informed us to target improving the reading ability of pupils at the early grade stage,” he said.
Mr Oduro mentioned that aside from the training programme, AngloGold Ashanti was currently constructing a state-of-the-art nine-unit classroom block at Sanso and commenced commercial arrangements towards the construction of an 18-unit classroom block at Anyinam.
He said the company has completed a contractual arrangement towards the construction of a centre of excellence for robotic training at Obuasi Senior High Technical School in a bid to promote STEM education.
GNA