AngloGold Ashanti, Obuasi Mine has partnered the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation, to distribute 30,000 reading materials to all public schools in Obuasi Municipal and Obuasi East District.
Procured at a cost of GH¢1.3 million, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) approved literacy and numeracy materials were handed over to the Municipal Education Directorate for onward distribution to the schools.
The two firms also visited the Independence Basic School at Brahabebome and Len Clay Memorial School at Odumase where they distributed the materials to the pre-school pupils to signify the commencement of the exercise.
Ms Mavis Nana Yaa Kyei, Social Development and Gender Superintendent, AngloGold Ashanti, said the development of any nation or society was hinged on education whether formal or informal.
She said AngloGold Ashanti had over the years, demonstrated its commitment to the promotion of quality education within Obuasi and its surrounding communities.
The initiative, according to her, sought to improve reading among children at the pre-school level with the goal of strengthening the foundation of the education system to facilitate smooth transition to the mainstream school.
She said the expectation was that the children could identify words, read, and understand them with the provision of the materials.
“For you to have a holistic view or perspective of the world, you need to be a reader; so that is the long-term goal, why we are embarking on the distribution of books to all Basic Schools in Obuasi,” she noted.
She further said: “The focus is kindergarten and nursery because we have realised that those in Junior High School have past the formative years already, so we want to catch them young for them to be able to identify letters and also understand phonics.”
Prior to the distribution of the books, AngloGold Ashanti had trained 525 teachers at the pre-school level to effectively teach children how to identify words, Ms. Kyei disclosed.
Mr George Alfred Koomson, the Obuasi Municipal Director of Education, said it was important to train the early grades to be fluent, read and write in both English and Ghanaian languages.
He, therefore, welcomed the intervention which he said would go a long way to enhance teaching and learning in all the 28 kindergartens in the Municipality.
He said the materials would complement the limited textbooks in stock with the introduction of the new curriculum and praised AngloGold Ashanti and Otumfuo Foundation for their continuous support.
Mr Elijah Adansi-Bonah, the Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi, said the return of AngloGold Ashanti had tremendously impacted Obuasi in all sectors of the economy.
He said Obuasi was widely known as the citadel of education, adding that, targeting beginners through this intervention would further improve learning outcomes in the long-term.
GNA