The Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has joined the Chief Executive Officer and Board Members of the MTN Ghana Foundation to hand over a 600-bed capacity girls’ hostel to Tamale Senior High School (TAMASCO).
The biggest of any such initiatives by a private company in the country, GH¢2.805 million project, which completed within eight months, is the brainchild of MTN Ghana Foundation – the social responsibility arm of the telecommunication company. It is aimed at complementing the government’s efforts at improving access to education, especially among girls in the country.
The dormitory block was officially handed over to school authorities for use on Saturday, June 26, 2021. Upon completion, all dormitories in the hostel were furnished and fitted with 600 beds, bathrooms, and toilet facilities. In addition to the hostel, a bungalow comprising two bedrooms, kitchen,and bathroom was also built and handed over the senior housemistress of TAMASCO.
Rationale
The Tamale Senior High School currently has a female student population of about 1,200 with only half of them able to access accommodation. The problem has been further compounded due to congestion, bed bugs infestation, and heat. The situation led MTN Ghana and its Foundation to intervene by providing the school with a modern dormitory block so as to ease the challenges the students were facing.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vice President Dr. Bawumia commended the company for the initiative which he said will inadvertently increase girl-child enrolment.
He also appealed to corporate bodies to invest in education, seeing the government cannot shoulder the burden alone. “I broke the grounds for the start of work on the MTN Foundation-sponsored 600 bed dormitory. I am happy to be part of its commissioning. This project will go a long way to ease congestion in the dormitories. TAMASCO is grateful to you,” Dr. Bawumia said.
On his part, CEO for MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh in his speech, said the hostel will no doubt change the lives of many young Ghanaian girls in the Northern Region. “It is my hope that MTN’s next major milestone of 50 years, a not-so-young woman will stand up to read a testimony of how this dormitory block brought hope into her life by providing the environment that led her to achieve her academic and professional ambitions.”
He also disclosed that MTN has invested in more than 87 major education projects in its 25-years of operation in the country.
“The MTN Foundation has also invested in several ultramodern ICT Centres including a recently handed over center at the Ghana Institute Management and Public Administration. We have also invested in digital and e-libraries for several institutions including Takoradi Technical University, Koforidua Technical University, Bonso Agric University,” he said.
The Headmaster of Tamale Senior High School, Rev. Edward Azika, expressed his gratitude to the leadership of MTN Ghana and the Foundation for the project and gave assurance that the facility would be put to good use by the girls.
