350 school-dropouts go back to school – Plan Ghana
Plan International Ghana, under its “Reaching and Teaching out of school children project” has prepared about 350 school drop-out children in the Bawku and Binduri districts for re-admission into various schools to continue with their basic education lessons.
The project funded by the Educate-A-Child project and the government of Ghana, identified the 350 children from 46 communities in the Bawku Municipality and the Binduri district.
Plan International Ghana, a Non-Governmental organiSation working to increase the transition of school dropout children into the formal sector in the Bawku Municipality and the Binduri district as part of a national plan got the children back to school.
The project, which targets school drop-outs from the ages of eight to 14 years in deprived communities, is to ensure that all children got quality basic education in the area.
Mr James Baba Salifu, Project Coordinator for “Reaching and Teaching out of school children project” who disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Bawku in the Upper East Region, said it was a five-year project supported by the government of Ghana Complementary Basic Education (CBE) programme.
Mr Aslifu mentioned that common barriers to education identified in the two districts as parents with too many children to take care of, poverty, non-prioritisation of children’s education by parents, the lack of interest by children, and the selection of some children to serve as herdsmen by parents.
He further mentioned the failure of parents to allow the children to go to school, over engagement of children in household activities and child labour among others.
Mr Salifu said as part of efforts to whip up the interest of the people in education, a five member team including staff of plan Ghana, circuit supervisors from the Ghana education service, and stakeholders from the communities embarked on the sensitisation of the practical importance of education to parents and brought out the benefits of education to the child to bear.
He hinted that the rate of school drop-out in the area was alarming and urged stakeholders to give attention to the phenomenon, adding that there was the need for constant stakeholder deliberations on education in the area to secure better future for the children.
Source: GNA