Over 200 children from poor homes, drawn from different parts of the Ashanti Region, have received assorted educational materials to take care of some of their basic school needs.

These included calculators, exercise and note books, school bags, pens and pencils, erasers, rulers and deodorants.

They were gifts from the “Lean on Me Foundation”, a United States (US)-based NGO.

Sheikh Firdeaws Ladan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NGO, said it was their contribution towards helping to make things a bit better for the kids.

He invited well-to-do Muslims to do more to support socially disadvantaged children, particularly in the Zongo communities, to pursue academic careers to lead decent lives.

This, he said, was the way forward to enable them to contribute productively to the nation’s socio-economic growth.

Sheikh Ladan announced plans by the Foundation to build a Children’s Village with well-equipped recreational facilities to aid the development of the little ones.

He encouraged young Muslims to embrace secular education and refuse to be part of anything, likely to hurt the image of Islam.

Mrs. Gertrude Mensah, Kumasi Metropolitan Director of Education, thanked the Foundation for the gesture and urged beneficiary kids to be inspired by the gifts to work on their books.

She advised Muslim parents against rushing their young daughters into early marriage.

They should not only enroll but retain them in school to assure them of a secured future.

The beneficiary children were picked from the Amansie West District, Asante-Akim Central and Obuasi Municipalities, and the Kumasi Metropolis.