World Vision International Ghana (WVG), in collaboration with World Bicycle Relief, has provided 3,000 school pupils in the Kassena-Nanakana West District of the Upper East Region with Buffalo Bicycles to improve school attendance and learning.
The project under the Bicycle Education Empowerment Programme (BEEP), is aimed at providing relief to school pupils who commute long distances to school and end up missing morning lessons and eventually drop out of school, to have easy mobility to their schools.
Fifteen selected primary schools from Mirigu,Sirigu and Kandiga area councils of the district, are beneficiaries of the intervention.
The schools are; Amenga Etego, Anisore, Atiyorom, Father Morin, Kaasi, Kandiga and Gunnum schools. The rest are; Mirigu, Nyangolingo, Busongo, Kurugu, Mother of Mercy and Sirigu R/C A and B schools.
Speaking on behalf of the Interim National Director of WVG, Esperance Klugan, Field Operations Coordinator of WVG, Madam Elizabeth Sagoe, said the intervention will improve attendance and learning of pupils who commute long distances to school.
Madam Sagoe cited that, many children of school going age in rural and hard to reach areas of the district, who cannot commute long distances to school, drop out of school, and those who make it to school, arrive late and appear tired to do meaningful academic work hence the intervention.
“The bicycles will complement activities of World Vision’s reading improvement in primary education project in the district by way of helping children who commute long distances to attend after-school-reading camps. This is not only to motivate children to learn to read; but will help to improve learning outcomes in general”
She appealed to World Bicycle Relief to support WVG extend the BEEP programme to other communities in the district, and entreated parents and the trained bicycle supervision volunteers to ensure the success of the project.
On his part, the representative of World Bicycle Relief, Micheal Veitenhans, said Ghana was the first to benefit from the BEEP project in West Africa, adding that, the vulnerable students will use the bicycle to access education to become responsible people in society.
Some beneficiary students told Citi News the bicycles will salvage their plight of having to commute long distances to school, and will from now attend school regularly and on time.
WVG has invested close to US$1.5million in the past nine years to support communities in the district with school infrastructure, water and sanitation facilities, providing teaching and learning materials as well as training teachers to improve quality education.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
