Sunyani Central Rotary Club has commissioned a four unit classroom block with ancillary facilities and three sets of 10 unit micro flush toilets for the Yawhima SDA KG, Primary, and Junior High Schools at Sunyani in the Bono Region.

The project, a partnership with four Rotary Districts and five Rotary Clubs in the USA, is at a total cost of $59,696.

The facilities, which have replaced the dilapidated wooden structure and broken toilets, will provide a safe and congenital teaching and learning atmosphere for over 520 pupils, out of which, 120 are in Kindergarten.

A 10-unit micro flush toilet each, provided for the Kindergarten, Primary, and Junior High sections of the school, will also ensure access to safe and environmentally friendly places of convenience. It will also help boost sanitation in the school.

The Club also announced they would provide a learning centre stocked with computers and a projector, textbooks based on the new curriculum for both KG and the primary schools, WASH education, and a school health Coordinator to teach the pupils personal hygiene.

Speaking ahead of the commissioning, the Rotary Club of Sunyani Central President Patricia Kwantemaa Effah said they had to act because the old structure was such that the pupils had to vacate the classroom anytime it threatened to rain.

She noted basic education and literacy as one of the focuses of the Rotary Club.

“The new structure will give the pupils a conducive learning environment, a better teaching, and learning aids, and ensure the pupils will be eager to go to school," she said.

The teachers were also entreated to ensure the pupils keep the toilet facilities clean and to instill the habit of handwashing in the pupils, especially, in this Covid-19 era.

Madam Effah assured of a random visit to the school to check on the facilities and how well they are being maintained.

“Ultimately, it is expected that the toilet facilities and maintenance of hygiene will go a long way to help improve the health of the pupils and teachers," she added.

She revealed Rotarians are not rich individuals, rather the desire to support the less privileged in the society is what motivates them to contribute to embark on such projects.

She appealed to the indigenes to develop the spirit of serving and helping the community, like the motto of the Rotary Club, “Service Above Self”.

This, she said, has the potential to entice others to come to their aid in development.

Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu Banahene, who cut the sod for the construction last year, then as the Sunyani Municipal Executive, charged the community to adopt the Rotary Clubs way of contributing their widow’s mite in a “susu” form to embark on other developmental projects to supplement government’s effort.

She said that with such a clarion call, the growth and development needs of the community can be fixed together.

He also appealed to the chiefs to hasten slowly in the sale of lands as it will make the provision of amenities difficult with the growth in population in the future.

In appreciating the gesture by Rotary Club, the Headmaster of Yawhimaa SDA KG and Primary school, Patrick Yaw Amoah, noted that, unlike the old structure, the new one would enhance attendance and learning capabilities of the pupils.

He, however, appealed for more maintenance support as his primary school teachers lack tables and chairs.

Angela Osei Agyeiwaa is one of the many beneficiaries who said the activities of passersby and cars would not disturb their focus in the classroom henceforth, thanked Rotary Club for ensuring they have a solid basic educational foundation.

The project adds up to other educational infrastructure by the Club at Sunyani Estate experimental, JinijiniAbansre, Nkrankrom, and Sononasikwayidendenmu at Tain district.

The club presented certificates to the kindergarten teachers and attendants after a three-day in-service training.