A total of 9000 pupils in various basic schools in eight districts in the Northern and Volta Regions have each received at least eight exercise books, pens, pencils, sharpeners and erasers to support their academic activities.

Sixty other pupils received school uniforms whiles Ms Sulemana Nafisah and Ms Jabalam Wahab, both physically-challenged primary school pupils, received a wheelchair and a crutch respectively to facilitate their movement to and fro school.

The beneficiary pupils formed part of the 15,480 pupils, who transitioned to formal schools last year, after undergoing nine months of Complementary Basic Education (CBE) under the Reaching and Teaching out-of-school Children project (REACH) in the Tatale, Savelugu, Chereponi, Bunkpurugu, Krachi West, Nkwanta North, Nkwanta South and Hohoe Districts.

The REACH project is being implemented by Plan Ghana, an international non-governmental organization, in partnership with the Ghana Education Service with sponsorship from Educate A Child.

The project, which is modelled on the CBE programme, gives out-of-school children beyond school starting age (eight to 14 years) an opportunity to acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills in their mother-tongues to enable them to enrol in the formal school system.

Mr Stephen Konde, Regional Coordinator at the Northern Programmes Support Office of Plan Ghana, who represented Mr Sulemana Gbana, Project Manager at the Northern Programmes Support Office of Plan Ghana, at a ceremony to present the items to beneficiary pupils at Famisah EP Primary/Junior High School at Chereponi, advised parents to send their children especially the girl-child to school.

Mr Konde said the beneficiary pupils transitioned to various classes in basic and junior high schools and lauded the performance of the pupils saying “We believe they can progress to any level of the academic ladder.”

He said Plan Ghana was also tracing REACH beneficiaries, who completed the programme two years ago saying some of them were in formal schools, which was a sign that the project was achieving results.

Madam Faustina Nayan, Chereponi District Director of Education, urged parents to complement the efforts of Plan Ghana by providing education needs of their children to keep them in school.

Madam Nayan thanked Plan Ghana for the donation saying it would help retain pupils in schools.

Alhaji Bawa Ananzi, Chief of Famisah, expressed gratitude to Plan Ghana for presenting the exercise books amongst other materials to pupils saying he would encourage parents to send their children to school.