The Japanese Embassy in Ghana on Thursday signed a $217,239 grant agreement with the Princess Umul Hattiya Foundation, an NGO, for the improvement of the Basic Education facility in the Zuo Community in the Tamale Metropolis.

The project, which would be implemented by the Foundation within a one year time frame, would comprise building a two-classroom Kindergarten block, a six-classroom block for the primary section, a head teacher’s room and a staff common room.

It would also ensure the provision of separate rain water harvester systems for both the pre-school and the primary sections.

In addition to these, the project would also ensure the construction of a six-seater KVIP comprising of two units urinal each for both the pre-school and the primary sections, as well as provide furniture for the primary school.

Mr Shigeru Hamano, Deputy Head of Mission, explained that the contractor was also expected to demolish and clear the existing structure.

Mr Hamano commended the Foundation for taking the initiative to seek a better educational facility and also improve the learning environment for the pupils of the community.

He said the advantages of the grant, which is under the Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGHSP) Scheme, was its flexibility in allowing beneficiaries to come with their own proposals and peculiar needs. Mr Hamano reiterated that the Government of Japan was committed to sustaining its partnership with the Government of Ghana in areas of infrastructural development and also in enhancing the living standards of the people. Princess Umul Hattiya Ibrahim Mahama, Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, thanked the Japanese Government and its Embassy in Ghana for the assistance and pledged to work hard to complete the project on schedule. She said when completed the new edifice would replace the existing one which was established in 1984 and which could be described as a death trap due to the big cracks, with dilapidated roofing sheets which often exposed the pupils to the sun and the rain. He said the school did not have a Kindergarten and therefore the new block would bring new hope to the people of the Zuo Community and help their children to start schooling early.