GREL BUILDS 2 SCHOOLS IN NZEMA EAST (PAGE 39)

THE Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL) has constructed a three-classroom block with an office each for two rural communities in the Nzema East Municipality in the Western Region.
The GH¢85,200 projects are to complement the government’s efforts at the provision of educational infrastructure for the rural communities.
The beneficiaries of projects, which form part of the company’s corporate social responsibility, were the Anibil Junior High School and the Nsein-Onzeaye Primary School.
The company is also refurbishing a three-classroom block at Chavene in the Lower Dixcove Traditional Area in the same municipality for a JHS to save schoolchildren in the community from trekking about four kilometres every day to attend school in the nearest town.
At a ceremony at Anibil to hand over the JHS block, the Managing Director of GREL, Mr Marc Genot explained that the company’s decision to build the school for the Anibil community was driven by its commitment to contributing to the advancement of education in the communities in its operational area.
Education, he noted, was the key to development in everybody’s life, as it destroyed ignorance and poverty and fostered knowledge and socio-economic well-being.
According to Mr Genot, education was also the only way through which a nation could renew itself in terms of its manpower needs for the future.
“For the children and people of Anibil, this school must be a lasting treasure for generations yet unborn. We hope that this beautiful classroom block will be well maintained so that 50 years from today, the structure will still be strong,” he stressed.
The managing director said in the last three years, the company had offered scholarships to 21 students in the seven traditional areas in its operational area to pursue secondary education.
He stated that the company was planning to sponsor one of those students through tertiary education in addition to seven scholarships to be given out this year.
Mr Genot said during the last long vacation in August/September, GREL organised vacation classes for more than 1,700 pupils in 21 communities in its operational area.
He said the full cost of the vacation classes, including learning materials, weekly snacks and payment for teachers, was borne entirely by the company.
According to Mr Genot, the aim of the vacation school programme was to assist the children to improve upon their academic performance and to discourage them from roaming about during the holidays.
“GREL shall continue to promote education in the communities in its operational area to assist in the development of the manpower base of these communities,” he emphasised.
The managing director, however, urged the communities in the operational area to live in peace with the company and settle any differences with patience and mutual respect to ensure peaceful co-existence.
In an address read on her behalf, the Western Regional Director of Education, Mrs Rebecca Afiba Dadzie, advised parents to take advantage of the various interventions the government had put in place, such as the Capitation Grant, to educate their children.
She further urged them to provide other materials that were not absorbed by the Capitation Grant.
The Paramount Chief of the Nsein Traditional Area, Awulae Agyefi Kwame II, advised the chiefs and people in the Gwira Traditional Area to amicably settle the protracted chieftaincy disputes in the area to pave the way for the socio-economic development of the area.
He said that was necessary because without peace, there would be no meaningful development.