By Edward Williams, GNA
Fodome (V/R), Dec. 16, GNA – Pencils of Promise (PoP), an education-focused non-profit Organisation and the Fidelity Bank Ghana, have handed over a new three-Unit classroom block to Fodome Kordzeto M/A Basic School to improve quality education.
The block has an office and ancillary facilities.
They also renovated a pavilion, KVIP, provided a new urinal, repainted an old school block built by Plan International Ghana and drilled a mechanised borehole for the community and the school.
Mr Freeman Gobah, Country Director, Pencils of Promise, said the model of the building was the second of a kind built by the Organisation.
He said the PoP had built 600 schools globally and the commissioned one at Fodome Kordzeto was the 199th in Ghana and would by January 2024, commission its 200th.
Mr Gobah said PoP believed that education was not only classroom blocks but teachers, pupils and parents were also part of the ecosystem they called education.
He said PoP had invested heavily in training or providing in-service training for teachers over the past couple of years and had supported over 2,500 teachers with ongoing training and coaching that affected over 53,000 pupils students in the Volta, Oti and Eastern regions.
Mr Gobah said the School would become a beneficiary of PoP’s training programmes, which would commence in February 2024 and be preceded by the supply of educational materials such as story books in January.
He said the School would also benefit from the organisation’s Digital Reading Programme with electronic readers supplied to the pupils.
Mr Gobah called for an effective maintenance culture to ensure the longevity of the classroom blocks and commended the support of all those who helped in the project success.
He thanked the Bank for believing the organisation in undertaking such a project.
He said they were looking forward to the next partnership to help elevate education and contribute to building the human resources capacity of the country.
Mr Emmanuel Arkorful, on behalf of Mr Atta Yeboah Gyan, Deputy Managing Director, Fidelity Bank Ghana, said the project formed a key prong of the Bank’s Orange Impact initiative.
He said the initiative sought to provide a medium to long-term suit of support packages to 15 marginalised schools located in various regions across the country within a period of 5 years.
Mr Gyan said the initial visit to the School and what they saw made it clear that they had a responsibility to create lasting change and to provide the children of the community with a conducive environment where they could learn and thrive.
He said it was an opportunity to effect real Orange Impact and decided to take up the challenge, adding that “as a bank that is uniquely and proudly Ghanaian, we firmly believe that Ghana would be a better place if everyone had the opportunity and support to succeed.”
Mr Gyan said it was therefore their focus to empower individuals and communities since education stood at the core of their beliefs.
He said the renovated school block stood as a symbol of the Bank’s collective commitment to the future of Fodome.
Mr Gyan advised the pupils to work hard to achieve their aims and urged the teachers, parents, guardians, and members of the Fodome community to support and nurture the dreams of the young generation.
Miss Leticia Doe, Headmistress of the School, said it was established on 25th September, 1973, under a tree with six volunteer teachers and some community assistants but now had professional teachers and service personnel.
She said the School went through severe classroom challenge which words could not express for the past four and half decades.
Miss Doe said in 2014, the Junior High School (JHS) established to prevent pupils from walking a long distance for education obtained 100 percent in 2014 and 84 per cent from 2015 to 2022 in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
She said the School was currently faced with inadequate trained teachers at KG1, Basic One and Two while the JHS was using the Roman Catholic Church as classroom, which made it difficult for teaching and learning since students paid attention to passers-by and vehicles.
She called for benevolent assistance to building a JHS block with a library and a computer laboratory for the students.
Miss Doe expressed gratitude to Pencils of Promise and Fidelity Bank Ghana for the assistance.
Mr Francis Yaw Agbemadi, Volta Regional Education Director, said the commissioning emphasised the vital link between education and infrastructural development, showcasing the role it played in shaping the destiny of communities.
He said the project’s objectives surpassed mere classroom construction since they encompassed broader goals of creating an enriched learning environment, fostering community engagement and promoting sustainable development.
Mr Agbemadi said the project served as a beacon of progress, providing not only a conducive space for learning but also symbolising the collective commitment to nurturing the minds of the next generation.
He urged all stakeholders both local and international to continue supporting educational initiatives and positively shape the future of the next generations.
The donors also provided 60 dual desks, teachers and office tables and chairs, ceiling fans in the classrooms and two 10,000-litre capacity polytanks to help store water.
Awards were given to some hardworking students as well as community members.
GNA