Cummins Ghana Limited has partnered with United Way Ghana to remove Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)-related barriers that impede young learners’ ability to access quality education.
The partnership between Cummins Ghana Limited and United Way Ghana has made it possible for the New Amakom Basic School in Kumasi to have an ultra-modern 20-seat toilet facility to address WASH-related absenteeism in the school, which was an issue of great concern.
The newly constructed washroom facility essentially comprises a mechanised borehole to ensure the continuous flow of water; modern 20-seat toilets to serve 508 pupils and 14 teachers, and two (2) overhead water tanks. The facility also has urinal and handwashing sections for both the male and female pupils.
To complement the project, assure good maintenance and project sustainability, United Way Ghana facilitated the set-up of an Environmental Club by the School Management Committee. The Environmental Club is made up of young learners guided by teachers who will see to the facility’s day-to-day maintenance as well as ensuring that the school’s environment is clean and pleasant for learning.
As part of the Environmental Club’s activities, young learners are educated on personal hygiene, waste management and its importance, recycling waste into useful products, and proper use and maintenance of the washroom facility. Intermittent competitions are organised to assess the young learners’ ability to apply the knowledge they acquire on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and maintain a clean and safe environment.
The school has been provided with all needed resources: such as dustbins, Veronica buckets, handwashing soap, tissues, cleaning detergents and tools to ensure that they are well-equipped for the various sanitation and sustainability activities.
“This project will curb the problem of some students asking permission to use the public washroom but do not come back, which has affected class attendance. Thank you, Cummins Ghana and United Way Ghana for bringing this timely project to Amakom,” said Mrs. Ellen Obuobisa, Headmistress-New Amakom M/A JHS.
The Facility was dedicated and handed over to the school on 29th March 2022. At the ceremony, the Jaasehene of Amakom admonished the school to take good care of the facility.
Speaking at the event, the Aftermarket Leader for Cummins Ghana, Mr. Baffour Asare Yeboah, while encouraging the young learners to adopt the best practices they have been taught and keep the toilet facility clean said: “Cummins is passionate about creating an enabling, safe, healthy and secured environment for the students, and thus identified this project as a critical need for the school toward achieving this purpose. We entreat you to maintain the facility for posterity.”
Executive Director, Felix Kissiedu-Addi, for United Way Ghana thanked Cummins Ghana Limited for looking to his outfit in Ghana as a worthy partner toward removing the barriers that inhibit access to quality education.
According to him, this project will ensure that every child at New Amakom Basic School gets the opportunity to stay in school, practice good personal hygiene and be good custodians of the environment.
“Quality education can only be achieved when situations like lack of washroom facilities do not force pupils out of school,” he said.
