eSyllabus For Africa supports Street Children Empowerment Foundation (SCEF)

Accra, May 7, GNA - eSyllabus For Africa, a non - governmental organisation, has presented a cheque for GH₵ 2,800.00 to Street Children Empowerment Foundation (SCEF) to cater for boarding fees of Master Emmanuel Coach, a street child.

Master Coach, 15 years, dropped out of school when he was 10 years after the death of his father in 2010 and had since been selling coconut at La Poly Clinic in Accra until SCEF officials found him in 2013 and processed him to enroll in formal education.

Mr Paul Semeh, Executive Director and Founder of SCEF, said Master Coach was brought to Accra by his grandmother who resides at the Arts Centre with the promise to send him to school in Accra but failed to do so.

“He was since left on his own and he turned the Ministries into his home after selling coconut at La Poly Clinic until I met him on that faithful day. When asked him why he was not in school, he narrated his story and expressed his willingness to go back to school.

“We quickly processed him and put him on our website for sponsorship and we were all glad when eSyllabus For Africa came in and offer to take up his education that same year,” he added.

Mr Semeh said the NGO is currently working on a reintegration plan for Master Coach to enable him join his families to have a normal life.

He said Coach is currently enrolled in a boarding school at Action Progressive Institute because no family member has come forth to accept him in their homes and his mother is jobless and could not guarantee her support for the boy.

He urged the families to gather courage to accept the boy into their homes to give him a sense of belonging and also assist him to become useful member of the family.

“We in SCEF will continue to cater for him until he complete school and any family member that will take up Coach will benefit from SCEF support project to empower them financially through their small skills enterprises.”

He thanked management of eSyllabus For Africa for the continuous support.

Mr Quarme Zowonu, Country Director, eSyllabus For Africa, who presented the cheque on behalf of his Organization, stressed the need to revamp the extended family system in Ghana to ensure quality upbringing of children.

He said: “as a country, if we can reintroduce the extended family system, it will help in addressing streetism, school dropouts, and child trafficking.”

He therefore urged parents to be more responsible towards their children’s needs, especially their education to avoid raising more children on the streets.

Mr Zowonu pledged their commitment to continue to work with SCEF and other stakeholders to bring hope and future to Ghanaian children.


Source: Ghana News Agency

NGO organizes quiz for Gomoa East District Schools

Gomoa Ekroful, (C/R), April 22, GNA - A United States-based Non- Government Organization (NGO) “NGOLI,” has organized a Mathematics and Science (M&S) Quiz Competition for seven basic schools in the Gomoa East district of the Central Region.

The programme was sponsored by Gentleman Radio.com from the US.

Gomoa Benso Junior High Schools (B), Benso(C), Gomoa  Aboso (A) JHS, Akropong  (SDA) (JHS), Aboso Zion (JHS), Otapirow (D/A) and Gomoa Akropong  Blessed Academy Preparatory JHS participated.

Speaking to the Press, Mr Raymond Amezado, President of the NGO said the competition was to improve the performance of basic school students in the district.

Benso (C) JHS emerged the overall winner.

Mr Amezado who was accompanied by two board members of NGOLI, Ms Tara Jackson and Ms Liza Kotou, said the three contestants of the winning school would be given full scholarships by the NGO to complete Senior High Schools of their choices

According to the President, the NGO came to Gomoa East District through the instrumentality of Mr Ernest Quarm, Assemblyman for Ekroful /Akropong Electoral Area.

He said the second objective was to help eliminate fear and panic among students in solving Mathematics and Science questions in final examinations.

Mr Amezado who is also a Staff Sergeant in the US Army, said plans were far advanced to stock the computer laboratory at Aboso-Benso JHS to improve Information Communication Technology (ICT) studies.

He urged the Gomoa East District Assembly to furnish the NGO with challenges in education for assistance.

The President asked parents in the Gomoa East District and others in the Central Region to provide basic needs for their children to promote teaching and learning.

Mr Quarm said the Assembly had empowered the Gomoa Akyempim and Ajumako Traditional Areas to instituted bye-laws to check parents who refused to send their children to school.

Source: Ghana News Agency

NGO calls for prosecution of headmaster for allegedly preventing students from writing WASSCE

Children's NGO, Child Rights International is pushing for the prosecution of the headmaster of the St. Johns Grammar Senior High School, Emmanuel Ofoe Fiemawhle for stopping three final year students from writing a WASSCE exam because they kept bushy hair.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has asked that the 3 students be registered and prepared to write the paper in the November WAEC remedial examinations. That decision has been criticized by groups which are seeking punishment for the headmaster. Speaking on the Super Morning Show, Executive Director of Child Rights International, Bright Appiah is calling for the headmaster to be dealt with in court.

“You cannot deny a child’s right to write examination. You are saying that because they have violated a child’s right the best thing you can do is to prepare them to go and write the examination [at a later date].

In this particular case we need to go beyond that and I have already called upon the parents to exercise their right within the court. If they are not ready to do so, we are prepared to be next friends to these people to go to court and ensure that such activities do not happen to our children in the future.

But the headmaster, Emmanuel Ofoe Fiemawhle denies preventing the students from writing the paper as reported by the media.

He told Joy News’ Keminni Amanor that the students were being routinely checked by an examination supervisor for using artificial eye lashes and perming their hair.

He said the affected students were among a group of students who have had previous disciplinary issues and that they were asked to stand aside while their colleagues were searched before being allowed into the examinations hall.

He insisted that there was no way that the supervisor would have prevented the students from writing the exam.

“It was a caution for them to stand there for some time or to go and trim their hair before coming to write,” he explained, “after the rest have entered, the group that was asked to stand aside [by the supervisor] were also searched and were asked to enter."

Unfortunately, he said, three of the students had snuck off from the group. Apparently the three attempted to see the head in his office when they split off from the group but met his absence.

They then chose to break bounds and leave the school premises, unbeknownst to the authorities, and reported to a radio station. Should they have stayed, they would not have missed the paper.

So, Mr Fiemawhle stated, "nobody prevented them from writing WASSCE…it is not true.”

Source: Ghana | Myjoyonline.com