The Regional Advisory and Information Network Systems (RAINS), a Tamale-based Non Governmental Organization (NGO), has handed over a two-unit classroom block to the chiefs and people of Sang in the Mion District.

The facility, which formed the second phase of a sponsorship package to Sang Zakaria Islamic School, saw the renovation of the existing six-unit classroom block of the school.

Speaking at the handing-over ceremony, Mrs Mavis Kotoka, Human Resource and Training Officer of RAINS, said the project was part of the organization’s effort to boost lower level education under a sound environment.

She said the kindergarten facility, which included a toilet, was funded by the Canadian Feed the Children (CFC), to add to the already existing classrooms to ensure continuity and smooth teaching and learning.

“We observed that it was not healthy to keep and teach children who are starting their education under trees. RAINS, as an NGO that is dedicated to providing care and support to deprived communities and their residents, sees this as unfavourable for teaching and learning, and that is why we teamed up with our development partners to put up such a structure,” she said.

Mrs Kotoka said although successive governments had implemented various policies to ensure that every school-going child attained basic level education, more needed to be done to achieve that goal.

Mr Edward Akapari, Country Officer of CFC, advised parents to develop interest in the physical, psycho-motor, affective and the educational well-being of their children.

Mr Akapari said apart from supporting the construction of infrastructural projects, the organization started initiating others to help reduce gender disparities in the country, especially in the Northern Region.

He appealed to school authorities to strengthen their monitoring committees as well as the parent-teacher associations to ensure that the schools produced good results.

Naa Musah Abukari, Chief of Sang, appealed to other NGOs to support the school with a three-unit classroom block for the newly-created Junior High School (JHS) to ensure the successful transition from primary to JHS.

“Looking at the size of the existing classrooms and the student population, there is no way the primary can be merged with the JHS,” he said.

Naa Abukari thanked RAINS and its development partners for the gesture and promised to release a three-acre land for the JHS project