CONGENIAL ATMOSPHERE NEEDED FOR LEARNING (PAGE 11, FEB 19, 2010)

Mr Stephen Yaw Manu, the Executive Director of AED-Ghana: Centre for Educational Development, Evaluation and Management, has called on teachers and parents to establish congenial atmosphere in schools and at home to promote learning for their children .
He said school-related  gender based violence showed that children were sexually, physically and psychologically abused in schools and homes, and urged parents and teachers to show love and support to motivate children.  
Mr Manu made the call at Katamanso  when his organisation presented teaching and learning materials  worth  over $12,000 and GH¢4,164.85 to  basic schools in  two  rural communities in the Tema metropolis in partnership with Regimanuel Gray Estates Limited.
Each of the pupils of the Katamanso Primary School, which has a population of about 300, was presented with a school bag, note book, pencil, eraser, pen, ruler and sharpener.
AED-Ghana, in partnership  with Shell Ghana Limited also presented a set of over 1,810 library books  to both Katamanso and Oyibi Primary schools to inculcate in the children the habit of reading.
The Executive Director of said the programme  involved an accelerated system to consolidate improvement of education in the rural community and ways to further improve teaching by providing teaching  materials and ensuring  that the children from primary One to primary Six of the two schools benefited from the exercise.
Mr Manu said the organisation sought support to build their vocabulary base to enable them to read, write and  express themselves well.
He said a meeting was organised with all stakeholders to establish a partnership between the community and the AED-Ghana.
Mr Manu stated that participants at the workshop comprised traditional rulers, unit committee and school management committee members, parents and teachers, among others .
As part of the  partnership , he said the NGO had signed an agreement with the school at Katamanso to work together to achieve academic excellence.
Mr Manu expressed his gratitude to Regimanuel Gray and Shell Ghana for partnering the AED to support the schools.
The Metropolitan Director of Education, Mr Kwesi Hutchful,  observed that education was key to development and, therefore, appealed to the  people of Katamanso to take the education of their children seriously.
He commended Regimanuel Gray and Shell Ghana  for their gesture and hoped  it would help improve education in the  area .
Mr Hutchful called on the teachers to instil discipline in the children to help society achieve the ultimate in education .
He charged the children  to be respectful and take instructions from their teachers to upgrade themselves.
Mr Hutchful  was optimistic that with the support of the NGO, in collaboration with the  donor companies, children of Katamanso and Oyibi would improve on their status as far as education was concerned. 
The Queen of Katamanso, Naa Afokor Ahiam, expressed the gratitude of the chief and people of Katamanso to the organisations and expressed the hope that the donor companies would assist the NGO to extend the support to cover the provision of a computer laboratory for the school at Katamanso.
The Greater Accra Regional Manager of Presbyterian Schools , Rev. Mrs  Victoria  Wayoe,   received the  materials for  distribution to the  children.
She thanked the AED –CEDEM for working hard to  seek support to build education and  especially selecting the rural area where the  children needed them most .
Rev. Mrs Wayoe urged the children to read the books and take good care of the materials.