The Learners Girls Foundation, a non-governmental organization, has commissioned a library with an e-learning facility in Paga in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.
The facility, which is the first of its kind, has been stocked with books of various fields and equipped with computers for the teaching and mentoring of students in the town.
Kumuriwor Alira Bushiratu, the founder of the organization, speaking at the commissioning, said the idea to establish the library was birthed during the peak of the coronavirus disease outbreak when schools were closed down and students had a challenge doing academic activities.
She said during that period, the organization which was also running an initiative to offer free tuition to students in an effort to minimize the impact of the disease on education in the area also faced a challenge with space.
She stated that the organization along with its effort got overwhelmed by the number of students turning up for the tuition and that was the beginning of a realization to find a bigger, more conducive structure to carry on with the initiative.
Kumuriwor revealed that in the search for assistance, the organization applied for the African Publishing Innovation Fund which is an initiative of the International Publishers Association and received financial assistance which enabled it to execute the project.
She stated that World Vision Ghana and the Ghana Publishers Association also supported them with furniture and books respectively.
“In 2020 when schools were locked down due to the COVID, we found it a problem so the youth of Paga who are educated formed an initiative to help teach students. So, we taught them for three months but we realised that we needed a bigger structure to undertake our literacy programme also because of the numbers. So, we began to look for support online to start something and that was how the library project started.”
Kumuriwor said it was the hope of the organization that the library will help develop and improve reading habits among students in the area. She was also hopeful students will take advantage of the computers to deepen their understanding of the subject and search for information online.
For his part, the cluster programmes manager of World Vision, Robert Pwazaga, appealed to parents, guardians and traditional authorities to be more involved in the education of children.
He explained that education was a tool of empowerment for children which will enable them to achieve their maximum potential and also enhance their capacity to benefit from entitlements that promote their wellbeing.
He, therefore, urged them to encourage their children to use the library maximumly to improve their reading skills and better their understanding of the lesson taught at school.
Pwazaga said sexual abuses and child marriages were still on the rise and continue to disrupt children’s education. He said records from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service have shown an increase in the violations.
He has therefore called on the government and traditional authorities to work towards ending them to create safe havens in communities for children to get education.
Senyalah Castro
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