Sefwi Abono, 17th September, 2009 –

Teaching and learning at Sefwi Abono Primary School in the Juaboso District in the Western Region,  will soon be given a new lease of life with the construction  of  a six unit classroom block for the school.  

The new school project has been made possible with funding from MTN Ghana Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility wing of MTN Ghana and the American Embassy. Both institutions are each funding the construction of three classrooms for the school which when completed will also have an office and a store room.

In connection with this, MTN Foundation has presented a Cheque of GHC 9,311.00, towards the construction of three unit classroom block in addition to the store and office.

MTN Foundation has since its launch in November in 2007, invested about 2 million US dollars into socio-economic development projects in the health and education sector particularly supporting communities and national projects where the impact will be highly significant. These include the MTN/UNDP ICT Centre project under which 10 ICT centres are being built in each region in the country. Another MTN sponsored project underway in Tamale is the MTN/AED Project. This is an education programme aimed at increasing literacy and numeracy in primary schools in the Northern Region. This project will impact the lives of over 10,000 pupils. In the area of health, the Foundation just commissioned the newly refurbished maternity ward of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and is also supporting the construction of an Intensive care unit for the Princess Marie Louis Hospital, the only children’s hospital in Ghana.

This latest project is expected to also create a conducive learning environment for teachers and pupils in the Sefwi Abono and surrounding communities to complement government efforts at improving the standard of education in these communities by 2010 through the provision of education infrastructure.

Presentating the cheque at a ceremony at Sefwi Abono today, a Board Member of the MTN Ghana Foundation, Dr. Plange Rhule, said the foundation is pleased to contribute to the provision of facilities that will help improve learning in communities such as Sefwi Abono.

“At MTN, our primary commitment is to contribute to developments in deprived communities in which we operate and we are confident that this school project will achieve the purpose for which it being constructed.   MTN recognizes the important role of education in national development and therefore when MTN Foundation was approached by the community with a request for support, we did not hesitate to heed positively to the cry of the Sefwi Abono community”

The project, to be completed by 2010, is expected to impact the lives of over 570 school going children in the community who at present attend classes in a dilapidated mud structure and surrounding church buildings.