Vivo Energy Ghana, the exclusive marketer and distributor of Shell-branded fuels and lubricants, has launched the second phase of its Community Digital Literacy Project in the Tamale Metropolitan area.

This is to expand the scope, reach out to more school children with relevant educational content, and improve their reading skills.

The initiative is in line with the company’s commitment to fuelling the growth of its operational areas and playing its part as a responsible corporate entity in complementing the government’s efforts toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.

SDG 4 aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

The project's second phase was launched in collaboration with the implementing partners, Worldreader Ghana and the Northern Regional Library.

Under Phase One, 25 households within the Tamale Metropolis were selected, trained, and assigned BookSmart Tablets which provided the households unlimited access to Ghana Education Service-approved reading books for children of school-going age.

Since the programme's inception in September 2021, over 4,900 books have been read and completed across all 25 households, with an average number of 29 books completed per day.

“Following an assessment of Phase One, the company can confidently say that the project has made a significant impact, and it is only right that we make more resources available to expand the scope in the second phase’, says Shirley Tony Kum, Corporate Communications Manager of Vivo Energy Ghana on behalf of Kader Maiga, Managing Director of Vivo Energy Ghana.

She announced that phase two of the project will be an outreach to the schools with the support of a Mobile Library Van, fuelled by Vivo Energy Ghana, and a Lending option where heads of schools will request for the tablet to be used for a period and returned to the library for use by other schools.

Additional Booksmart tablets, funded by Vivo Energy Ghana, were also presented to the Northern Regional Library to expand the scope by enrolling more pupils in the programme.

Beneficiaries of the project were also given branded backpacks with educational items to motivate and recognise their commitment to reading.

Speaking on behalf of the Northern Regional Minister, the Chief Director of the Regional Coordinating Council, Gilbert B. Nuuri-Teg, commended Vivo Energy Ghana for demonstrating a sense of commitment toward community development beyond its core business.

“Many would have thought that being an energy company, the company would only focus on their main business, but the thought of going the extra mile of improving our children's reading skills and knowledge base is highly commendable.

"I would also like to applaud the Northern Regional Library, Worldreader Ghana, and all the facilitators for collaborating to ensure the success of the first phase of this very important project,” he added.

The Northern Regional Director of the Ghana Library Authority, Aaron Kuwornu, lauded the initiative and called on parents and facilitators to encourage their children to use the tablets well.

He also stated that the library continues to find innovative ways for people to access books of their choice to read regardless of their location.

The Metro Director of Education, Tamale, Dr Peter Attefuah, was impressed with the impact of the first phase of the project and encouraged all stakeholders to give off their best in the second phase to help the children develop an interest in reading and enhance their ICT skills.

“The project has changed the normal after-school and weekend activities of the children in a positive way. Instead of the children saying, ‘we are going to play', the narrative now has changed to ‘we are going to read’.

"Parents have seen much improvement in their children's academic work since the last trimester,” Fred Mensah, a representative of the facilitators, disclosed this while sharing some impact stories at the event.

The Programmes Manager of Worldreader Ghana, Alhassan Abdul Kahad, encouraged heads of schools and households to take full advantage of the project's second phase and emphasised the benefits of reading to the growth of societies and the country.