Schoolchildren from the Nhyiaeso Basic School have applauded MTN Ghana Foundation for building and handing over a six-unit classroom block and staff bungalow for children in the area.
The facility was put up at a cost of GH¢500,000 and will serve about 356 pupils. It comes with a staff common-room and head-teacher’s office, which both have been fully furnished.
The Ag General Manager for the Northern Business District of MTN Ghana, Simon Amoh, handed over the completed facility to the chief and people of Nhyiaeso within the Asante Akyem district.
Samuel Koranteng, Corporate Services Executive and Executive Director of the MTN Ghana Foundation said: “I am really pleased about the completion of this important facility. MTN Ghana Foundation embarked on this project because of the value we place on education. We believe that children of school-going age and those yet unborn equally deserve better opportunities in education at all levels.
“The facility will bring hope and relief to about 356 pupils (184 boys and 172 girls) and teachers from Nhyiaeso. It will also serve eight other surrounding communities. We look forward to hearing about high retention in schools and increased enrolment,” Mr. Koranteng said.
The request for the building was presented to MTN Ghana Foundation’s board by Ohemeng Tawiah, a journalist working with Joy FM who chanced upon the school while covering a story in the area. According to the story he carried, pupils in the school had gone through several challenges including walking over 20 kilometres to neighbouring towns to attend school. Reports indicate that some of the girls where sexually assaulted by herdsmen in the surrounding communities.
The existing facilities were in a very poor state, and many of the structures were almost collapsing. Provision of the classroom block school will therefore help to eliminate absenteeism on the part of both pupils and teachers. It will also end the long trekking pupils had to undertake to access education.
The representative of Agogomanhene, Nana Brentuo Asadro Nti said: “I am amazed at what MTN has done to promote education in this area, and I wish to express my sincere gratitude to MTN”.
In his remarks, the DCE, Francis Oti Boateng said: “Government appreciates the private sector’s role and commends MTN for such an initiative. Comparing this new school to the old dilapidated structure, this is a tremendous improvement. Considering the structure’s cost, it would have taken years for the Assembly to accrue that amount of money to provide such a facility. Well done to MTN for supporting Asante Akyem and its environs”.
The District Education Director, Madam Mildred Ama Kwakye Agyapong, also said: “This is one of the finest school buildings in the country. We are grateful for the relief this will bring and how it will also enhance education in this area. I plead with the people of Nhyiaeso to take good care of the building to make it last longer”.
Among other dignitaries who attended the brief ceremony were the Odikro of Nhyiaeso, Nana Kwasi Owusu: Andy Appiah Kubi, MP for Asante Akyem North; and Mr. Jim Aglah, the General Manager of Multimedia Group in Kumasi. The event was also attended by MTN officials in the region.
For about 12 years now, the MTN Ghana Foundation has been instrumental in supporting national development efforts through conscious investments in the areas of Education, Health and Economic Empowerment. Over US$15,207,874 has been invested in about 149 projects across the country, out of which 85 are education projects. These projects are estimated to have impacted over 4 million people.
