NEW SCHOOL BLOCKS UNAUGURATED AT GODOKPE (PAGE 21)

THE Volta Regional Manager of the Salvation Army Educational Unit, Mr Richard Kudedzi, has inaugurated a cluster of four classroom blocks comprising 10 rooms for classes, offices and stores at Godokpe, a deprived community in the Ho Municipality.
The Grace Project of the Salvation Army Church of the United Kingdom financed the $3,000 project, known as the Grace Salvation Army Model School.
The project was sited at the village with the initial aim of providing quality education to children of cured lepers in the area and has offered the opportunity for the enrolment of 150 pupils to date.
The project was initiated under the auspices of a Ho-based non-governmental organisation, Ghana Outlook, and has prevented the closure of the school which was hitherto housed in thatched sheds, which made teaching and learning difficult as result of the unpredictable weather.
In an address, Mr Kudedzi recounted the obstacles in the acquisition of land for the project, and thanked a sub-chief of Ho, Torgbui Adzimah, for leading the task in the search for land.
He expressed regret that many parents had the notion that the government had absorbed all payments of school fees and so there was no need to provide learning tools to their children.
He said the motive behind the Capitation Grant was a laudable one but in the current economic conditions, the GH¢3 per child was woefully inadequate, adding that the remittance of the money to schools was irregular and compounded the problems of the school administration.
Mr Kudedzi, therefore, suggested that parents should rather be made to pay GH¢3 so that the state took over the supply of learning materials like exercise books, pens , pencils and eraser.
The Territorial Commander of the Salvation Army, Colonel Dennis Strissel, said the project was a symbol of the grace of Jesus Christ, adding that human beings did not deserve grace but as there was the need for it, it could be described as unmerited favour.
He said the sponsors did so out of grace and that the rhythm of grace covered virtues like sacrifice, forgiveness, potential talents and relationships, among others.
The general manager of Salvation Army schools, Ghana, Martyn Beecham, said the project was aimed at offering opportunities for equal development of children so that they could develop themselves and establish a sustainable livelihood for their families, society, friends and the nation.
In an address read on her behalf, the Ho Municipal Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Ms Rosemond Keteku explained the state’s policy on education.
She said past and present governments had not been able to fulfil the task and assured the new school of the needed support for it to emerge as one of the best in the region.
The Headmaster of the school, Mr Gershon Badasu, in an address, said enrolment had increased from 70 pupils with three teachers in September, 2007 to 150 with nine teachers at the moment.
He stated that the school which started under a shed, with no seats, was now housed in standard classrooms with suitable seats for each pupil and modern writing materials, through the efforts of donors in the UK.