Excellent Community Education Welfare Scheme (ECEWS) in conjunction with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has called on partners to invest in educational programs in Ebonyi state.
This was even as the scheme sought how to sustain the Continuing learning Through Alternative Home and Community -Based Platform Project.
The program which was conducted in two local government areas of the state, Izzi and Afikpo South was done with support from UNICEF.
Executive Director of ECEWS, Mr Andy Eyo made the call during Continuing learning Through Alternative Home and Community -Based Platform Project closeout/exit meeting at the premises of the Ebonyi State Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB).
Eyo stressed the need for the program to be sustained in the state especially as UNICEF through the program brought back reading culture in the areas it was practice.
He said, “I saw it that the people wants this program and also with the little that has come it helped. I want to thank UNICEF, I thinj government is the major part of UNICEF, so we will continue also to engage further to know how best we can continue to make this project work.
“We can see that the state has alot of programs in maternal and child health, the government have attracted alot of partners, we pray that more partners will come in education because even the state government would still not be able to do it alone, because these are strategies that work.
“For me Community learning Hubs is a very interesting strategy, see what it has done, it inspires reading, it reduces exams malpractices and has help many of our colleagues in pronunciations.”
Project Coordinator of ECEWS, Mrs Katherine Udoh while explaining the goals and objectives of the project said the program was targeted for pupils of primary 1 to 6.
She said,” the Continuing Learning Project aims at ensuring that children (boys and girls) who were not reached during the lockdown period gets the opportunity for catch-up /remedial learning and that learning continues at home and in the community.
“Facilitate home – base catch-up/ remedial learning on literacy and numeracy for primary 1- 6 Pupils across the 3 project states, ( Enugu Ebonyi and Venue).
“Build the capacity of teachers to provide psycho- socio support to children. Strengthen the capacity of School Based Management Committee (SBMCs) to improve sanitation and hygiene for safe school return and support home base learning and monitoring school activities”.
Mrs Udoh noted that the program was targeted to reach 500,000 children across the six LGAs and 3 states they are working in.
He said in Ebonyi alone their target was to reach 2000,601 children, 2,613 teachers and 386 School Based Management Committees.
She further stated that they were able to establish 480 reading hubs in the two LGA, 380 in Izzi and 94 in Afikpo South among other achievements.
