Children under sixteen years at Tebeso Number two, in the Bosome Freho District, who are for one reason or another, were not able to go to school, have receive a second chance to get formal education.
This follows the launch of a Complementary Basic Education (CBE) programme by the Schools for Life Foundation, an NGO, with funding from Lumnios Fund, based in the United States of America, to support such children in the community and its environs.
The program dubbed “The second chance” aims at providing innovative opportunities to create a second chance for children who, for some reasons were denied mainstream education.
It is targeted at children from age eight to sixteen years who have not been enrolled in formal schools or those who have dropped out before attaining literacy and numeracy skills.
Madam Wedad Sayibu, Director of Schools for Life Foundation, speaking at the ceremony explained that, the CBE program was developed to offer a flexible learning opportunities for these cohorts of children, through make-shift learning spaces and delivery of literacy classes in mother tongue.
She said it was also to have flexible time schedules that allowed the children to still observe their economic and domestic duties, whilst making sometime within the day for education, especially in Tebeso Number two, where cocoa farming was very prevalent.
Madam Sayibu emphasized that, the CBE model offered an accelerated learning program in literacy, numeracy and life skills using child centered pedagogy and innovative teaching methodology for a period of nine months, after which the learners were graduated and supported to join the mainstream schools.
She said, the Foundation was targeting 750 leaners within the period, with 250 in the Bosome Freho district and another 500 from the sekyere Afram Plains district with a maximum of 25 learners per class, for the pilot phase.
The Director noted that, a three weeks intensive training programme had been organized for 33 volunteers to equip them with the requisite knowledge and skills to effectively deliver on the classes.
Mr. Francis Asumadu, Acting Director of Complementary Education Agency (CEA) indicated the readiness of the Agency to assist in the sustainability of the program and called on all other stakeholders to support it.
Ms. Ethel Sakitey, Country Director for Lumnios Fund expressed the commitment of the Fund to support more of such interventions to ensure that more children obtained formal education in rural and deprived communities.
