About 12,300 out-of-school children from nine districts in Northern and Upper West Regions have begun classes under the Complementary Basic Education (CBE) programme to facilitate their enrolment into the formal education system.

Some of the beneficiary districts include Kumbungu, Saboba, Mion, Zabzugu, Sagnarigu, Nanumba South and Yendi Municipality.

The CBE programme, which is being implemented by School for Life, an NGO, seeks to give out-of-school children beyond school starting age (eight to 14) an opportunity to acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills in their mother-tongues to enable them to enrol in the formal school system.

Alhaji Abdulai Ziblim, Deputy Manager in-charge of Operations of School for Life announced this when he led a delegation comprising officials from School for Life and Crown Agents to call on Mr Paul Apanga, Northern Regional Director of Education at his office on Friday.

The meeting was to enable officials, especially from Crown Agents to interact with Mr Apanga about the impact of the CBE programme in the region.

Crown Agents is a United Kingdom based organization contracted by the Department for International Development (DFID), which sponsors the CBE programme, to conduct an independent assessment of the implementation of the programme (CBE).

The delegation later visited some communities including Kpalsi, Larini and Katariga in the Sagnarigu and Kumbungu Districts where the CBE programme was being implemented.

Alhaji Ziblim said over 106 community volunteers had been trained on the CBE methodology, which included participatory learning approach, word formation, and the use of classroom register to enable them to facilitate the programme to the beneficiary children in the two regions.

He said the classes would run for nine months (October to June) after which the pupils would be in a position to enroll in the formal school system entering between primary three to primary six depending on their abilities.

Mr Apanga commended School for Life for initiating the CBE programme, which ensured that out-of-school children enroll in the formal education system.

Mr Donato Pezzuto, Senior Consultant in-charge of Governance and Public Expenditure Management of Crown Agents, expressed delight at the involvement of the district assemblies in the implementation of the CBE programme, saying, it was necessary to ensure its sustainability.