The pupils with their CBE Certificates, ready for integration
A total of 436 children, who have never been to school in some deprived communities in the Kassena-Nankana West District in the Upper East Region have successfully completed the Complementary Basic Education programme under the Ghana Education Service (GES) and integrated into some primary schools in the district.
The children took part in the programme for nine months and were taught in their mother tongues to facilitate easy understanding of basic numeracy and literacy.
The Kassena-Nankana West District has a total of 18 deprived communities selected to participate in the Complementary Basic Education under the supervision of Link Community Development.
Out of the 450 children, only 14 dropped out before the graduation and integration ceremony in the various communities.
Link Community Development, over the past two years, has supervised the training and integration of hundreds of children, who are out of school, into mainstream schools in the Kassena-Nankana West and Bawku West Districts.
In the Kayoro-Wuru community, all 25 children, who started the programme, will be attending the Kayoro-Wuru Primary School from the 2017/2018 Academic Year.
Community Facilitator, Achana Stephen, said his pupils would be able to compete with other kids when they finally start learning under the mainstream education system.
He commended the Kayoro-Wuru Primary School Management Committee members for showing interest in the Complementary Basic Education programme and pleaded with them to help monitor the pupils, especially the girls, to ensure that they do not drop out of school to marry or work.
The District Complementary Basic Education Coordinator for Link Community Development, Cecilia Kyibeletu advised the children not to see themselves as inferior to other pupils when the 2017/2018 academic year begins.
She advised the parents that witnessed the event and the elders of the community to prioritize the education of their children, especially the girls and endeavour to keep them in school.
“We will do our part to ensure that your children are educated and integrated into schools. It is up to you parents and community leaders to ensure that they are encouraged to learn and continue to be in school. Let’s us try to invest in our children’s education so as to eradicate poverty in our families.”
The Chairman of the Kayoro-Wuru School Management Committee, Alhassan Abanungbawuni called on the Kassena-Nankana West District Assembly, to provide more desks for the Kayoro-Wuru Primary School.
The children at the Lower Primary sit or lie of the floor to read and write during school hours, and the SMC Chairman fears the children could contract diseases.
In the Bawku West District, over 400 children completed the  Complement Basic Education programme, and will also be integrated into some selected primary schools across the district in the 2017/2018 Academic year.
From Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Kayoro-Wuru