By Sampson Manu
Obuasi (Ash), Oct. 03, GNA – AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine, in partnership with the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation, has donated some educational materials worth GH¢1000,000.00, to some junior high schools in Obuasi and its environs.
The items included 13,000 NaCCA approved textbooks, 150 geometric instruments and 150 graph boards.
The gesture is part of efforts by the mining giant to improve the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) pass rate in the Obuasi East district and Obuasi Municipal.
Mr Edmund Oduro Agyei, Community Relations Manager of AngloGold Obuasi Mine, speaking at the presentation ceremony, said the books were procured based on a needs assessment done by AngloGold Ashanti in collaboration with the education directorates and the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II foundation.
He said since 2022, AngloGold Ashanti had distributed over 140,000 textbooks to schools in its operational areas in a bid to enhance teaching and learning, empower people and advance societies.
Mr Oduro Agyei said the books and other educational materials donated were based on the new curriculum of the Ghana Education Service.
He said the company understood the importance of improving access to education and had made education a focal point in its 10- year Socio-economic development plan.
“As a mining company, our resolve is to make our communities better, hence we have identified education as a key route to empower our people.
Through our 10-year SEDP, we have built schools, we have started the construction of a robotic center, trained teachers, and also supplied textbooks to schools”.
He expressed AngloGold Ashanti’s resolve to continue to pursue and support quality education in Obuasi by investing heavily in the sector and partnering with key stakeholders like the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation and the Ghana Education Service.
Mr. Kwabena Owusu Nketiah, Obuasi East District Director of Education, who received the items, commended AngloGold Ashanti for its relentless efforts in supporting educational improvement in Obuasi.
He mentioned the impact of the various intervention programmes rolled out by AngloGold Ashanti in the educational sector, which he said, had changed the face of education in the mining town.
“When the new curriculum was introduced, most of the teachers here were uncertain about how the questions will be but through AngloGold Ashanti who organized series of workshops for us, teachers here are able to decipher and implement the best methods during teaching”
Mr George Alfred Koomson, Obuasi Municipal Director of Education, also lauded AngloGold Ashanti for the books and other items and said they would go a long way to improve education in the area. GNA