Municipal Chief Executive for Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region, Simon Kweku Tetteh on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, presented learning materials to kindergarten and class one pupils to mark “My First Day at School” in the area.

The MCE accompanied by officials from the Ghana Education Service including Head of Monitoring and Supervision and the Municipal SHEP Coordinator, Godfred Ofoe Caesar, and officials from the Ghana Health Service represented by the Municipal Disease Control Officer, Grace Selase Etsra and Early Childhood Education and Guidance and Counselling Coordinator in the municipality, Barbara Serwaah Buadu, presented some items to the children.

The items presented included packs of biscuits, soft drinks, pencils, school uniforms and nose masks to the children who were beginning their educational journey.

The event was marked to welcome children entering school for the first time after the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020.

Teaching and learning resumed in all 173 public and private basic schools in the municipality on Monday, January 18, 2020, after ten months of closure and the Assembly Chief believes welcoming the first time pupils to school is the best way to encourage them to appreciate their new environment.

The presentations were made as the MCE toured various Primary schools and kindergartens in some communities in the municipality including the Mount Mary Demonstration Primary and KG, Nuaso Presby Primary and KG, Akro M/A Primary and KG, Agomanya Methodist Primary and KG, Okuenya M/A Primary and KG, Piengua Yokuenor M/A Primary and KG and the Kpong EP M/A Primary and KG.

The kids were all seen masked up in line with the COVID-19 protocols.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Tetteh urged the pupils to be punctual at school and to take their lessons very serious for them to become good assets for their families and the nation in future.

He thanked the teachers for their commitment to the welfare of the children and tasked them to treat them with care and love.

The Assembly Chief also congratulated parents for appreciating the need for education and enrolling their wards in school.

He, however, charged both parents and teachers to ensure the best of COVID-19 protocols for the kids, especially as they are too young to observe the protocols on their own.

On her part, Early Childhood Education and Guidance and Counselling Coordinator in the municipality, Miss Barbara Serwaah Buadu expressing satisfaction at the outcome of the tour, said the objective of welcoming pupils back to school and make them stay had been achieved.

Asked if the teachers were motivated and committed enough to provide the essential care for the kids during a pandemic like COVID-19, she praised the commitment and dedication of the teachers and gave the assurance that they would provide the best possible care.

She said inter alia, “Our KG teachers are very, very careful when it comes to the children. Their eyes are on the children. A class size of 40 pupils will have two teachers and where the number is less than 40, that is when we provide a teacher.”

The pupils were full of excitement at the visit of their Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) as he left impressive marks on the minds of the pupils and their teachers with his visit.

Mr. Tetteh also used the occasion to interact with the teaching staff and the headmasters of the schools he visited.