Trainees under the National Functional Literacy Programme will now be able to sit for both the BECE and WASSCE following the decision of the Non-Formal Education Division of the Education Ministry to broaden its scope.

Currently, trainees, who are mainly adults, are only trained in reading, writing and numeracy.

Speaking to Myjoyonline.com after the graduation of 16 facilitators of the programme at the Adwen-Bu District of the Church of Pentecost, Greater Accra Regional Director of Non-Formal Education, George Anum Mensah, explains the decision is to ensure that every Ghanaian attains a formal education.

“What we are trying to do now is to get those school dropouts in the primary school, we want to bring them up to at least the BECE level, where they can be able to sit for their BECE.

“The same with SHS dropouts, we want to bring them up so that they will be able to pass the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination."

Mr. Anum Mensah further stated:  “Now we are also collating data on other service providers, those who are providing remedial classes, we need to coordinate the efforts of everybody so that at least we can be able to reach to our people, who unfortunately are not able to have formal education.”

He added that the Division will still place emphasis on occupational and vocational skills as well as entrepreneurship skills.

The Adwen-Bu District Pastor of the Church of Pentecost, Elijah Mahama Akpanyi, entreated churches to embrace non-formal education to get members educated so that they would be literate and functional in all their endeavours.

Quoting John C. Maxwell who admonished leaders to touch a heart before they ask for a hand, Pastor Mahama noted that members would be able to contribute generously to the church if it assists them to be self-sufficient.

He appealed to the unpaid facilitators of the programme to be committed to the course. Facilitators are the teachers who assist the adult functional literacy trainees. 

The facilitators include Fetus Amoah, Emmanuel Atta Williams, Rosemond Nutifafa Adanuti, Wisdom Glavee, Frank Agyemang, Faustina Frimpong, Peter Essel and Stephen Owusu.

The rest are Isaac Essel, Joshua Tenkorang, Mrs. Hannah Ampofo, Juliana Odei Addo, Victoria Baiden, Michael Ansah, Susana Agyemang and Victoria Tachie-Menson.

Madam Priscilla M. Nketia Akromah, Accra Metro Coordinator of the Non-Formal Education noted that the mission of the Division is to provide functional literacy skills to non-literate Ghanians between the ages of 15 and 45 and above especially women and the rural poor.

The Non-Formal Education Division of the Ministry of Education was established in 1987 to provide quality basic literacy skills to new groups in reading, writing and numeracy in the 15 Ghanaian languages and English.

It enables people to read signs, prescription on drugs, house numbers, identify buses and thus find their way around as well as write and read their own letters, read and send text messages and fill their own forms.

The one-week training at the Adwen-Bu Church of Pentecost was coordinated by the Officer in charge of Literacy, Mr. Nickless Paintsil with support from Emmanuel Nii Awuku and Benjamin Nabilla.