Bawku (U/E), May 24, GNA- Twenty facilitators of the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) in the Bawku municipality in the Upper East region have been honoured with ten bicycles and ten sewing machines each for their immense contributions to the success of adult literacy. A total of 2,955 adult learners made up of 1,640 females and 1,315 males, passed out under the tutelage of these facilitators during a 21-month period.

Speaking at the function, the municipal coordinator of NFED, Mr. Matthew Arah, said a survey conducted to monitor the programme revealed that 50.4 per cent of the learners were within the productive age of 15-35 years, which was a good signal for development.

He said this means that majority of the citizenry could be literate enough within some few years to meet the emerging challenges confronting the developing world.

He said NFED does not only teach people to read and write, but had gone the extra mile to educate the learners on their civic responsibilities, adding that this had helped increase active participation in local governance.

Mr. Arah, therefore, called on the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) to collaborate with his outfit towards this direction to reach out to the larger population in a more effective and cheaper way to educate the masses.

The deputy municipal co-ordinating director, Mr. Fuseini Alhassan, expressed concern about reported cases of misconduct and alcoholism among facilitators and supervisors that had cast a slur on the image of literacy classes in the area.

He cautioned them to refrain from such behaviour in order to win the confidence of the learners to achieve the desired impact of the programme.

Mr. Alhassan lauded the efforts of NFED for going beyond the needs of reading and writing to include occupational skills that had improve learners' contributions in the economic and political spheres of the country.