Mobile telecommunication company, Airtel Ghana has handed over an educational facility to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to serve the educational needs of the children of Himakrom and three other surrounding communities in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region. Located in a largely farming community, the Himakrom Methodist Primary School is the first to benefit from Airtel’s “Adopted Schools Programme”, initiated to provide good quality basic education and to empower underprivileged children to realize their full potentials. As a key component of Airtel’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, the programme has been modeled on the Bharti Foundation programme which brought real joy and hope to children from deprived backgrounds in rural India by providing ready access to quality education. Apart from the refurbishment of the two primary classroom blocks, the school can now boast of additional facilities as a well stocked library, kitchen, and modern playground and teaching and learning aids. Each student also received a new set of school uniforms and shoes as an added incentive while the teachers will also be motivated from time to time by supplementing their income. Mr. Philip Sowah, MD. Airtel Ghana said, “We at Airtel appreciate the power of education in driving the socio-economic development of the country, hence we made it the main focus of the company’s CSR initiatives.” “Our strong desire to see children excel in diverse ways is what has brought us this far. Airtel wants to change the lives of people, most especially our children the future leaders of this country, by providing accessible and quality education which empowers them to be free to learn and therefore secure a better future which will ultimately impact on the nation as a whole.” “We were prompted by the unfavourable conditions in the schools such as inadequate facilities and the near absence of teaching and learning aids despite the strategic location of the school”. “We hand over the school today in the hope that everybody will see the need to put their hands together to provide a better footing for the younger generation” he remarked. Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu, Minister of Education, noted that the “Government acknowledges the priceless contribution of the private sector in the overall development of the country particularly in the area of education where worthy allies like Airtel is concentrating.” “The Education Ministry has benefited from interventions like this,” she continued, “but I must emphasize that this is of a difference and I am personally proud to be witnessing this handover ceremony.” “You have made the lives of these children brighter and this will clearly manifest in the not-too-long future,” she added. Source: myjoyonline.com/Ghana