At a ceremony that took place in Akropong within the Akuapem North Municipality, United Way Ghana supported over eighty severely disadvantaged young learners in Primary and JHS with school supplies, including school bags, school uniforms, shoes, stationery and storybooks, to ensure an effective academic year.
This gesture is a key component of United Way Ghana’s Nyansapo Scholarship Project, which is designed to provide young learners in underserved communities with equitable access to educational opportunities and improved skills development to promote high academic performance and lifelong learning.
United Way Ghana believes that every child should have access to quality education for a better life which is in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Quality Education.
With grant support from the Reidman Family between 2005 and 2022, United Way Ghana has provided scholarship packages to over 1,163 young learners, sensitised over 600 parents, and set up guidance and counselling committees in six (6) schools.
Beneficiary schools of the project are Akropong MA Basic School, Methodist Basic School, Salem Presbyterian Basic School, St. Joseph Anglican School, Abiriw SDA Basic School, and Okuapeman Basic School.
Also, under the scholarship project, thirty teachers have also been trained in leadership and soft skills, as well as effective class management. The schools have also been equipped with teaching and learning materials. Also, 100 parents and caregivers of the student beneficiaries have been sensitised on financial literacy, home management, and good parenting.
This year, in addition to the scholarship packages, United Way Ghana commemorated International Day of the Girl Child with 120 girls from the beneficiary schools to enhance the girl’s skills in digital literacy and how they can better invest their time on social media.
Each school received boxes of sanitary pads to provide support to almost 1,800 girls during their menstrual cycles.
Throughout the 2023/24 academic year, United Way Ghana will conduct a series of sessions with the girls to educate them on menstrual hygiene and various empowerment activities tailored to their needs. This initiative is a vital component of United Way Ghana’s Girls Closet project, designed to empower adolescent girls by addressing the stigma surrounding menstruation, equipping them with the tools to manage their menstrual health and boosting their confidence levels.
“Some parents cannot afford these school items for their wards. Some students do not have access to these things for a whole term. The work is huge, those who are in need are many,” Executive Director at United Way Ghana, Felix Kisssiedu-Addi, said during the handover of scholarship items. He also urged the young learners and their caregivers to take good care of the items that they had received and to use them for their intended purposes.
Gifty Eshun, Girl Child Coordinator at the Ghana Education Service – Akuapem North Municipality, received the items on behalf of the beneficiary schools and thanked United Way Ghana for the kind gesture.
Daniel Okyere, a pupil teacher at the Methodist Basic School, also extended his appreciation to United Way Ghana, adding: “This donation of educational materials will enhance learning and improve class attendance in our school”.
