This was under the Nurturing Education through Resource Donations (NERD) initiative by the NGO aimed at promoting quality education in deprived communities.

The schools, located in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa, Jirapa and Nandom Municipalities, received a total of 3,070 teaching and learning materials, including textbooks, exercise books, pencils, pens, copy books, water bottles and eco-friendly tote bags. 

The beneficiary schools included Kogle R/C Primary and Junior High School, Nandom English and Arabic, Danko M/A Primary, Yibile M/A Primary, Nandomkpee M/A Primary, 31st December Women Movement Primary, Konzokalaa R/C Primary and Naa Polkuu Primary among others. 

At a brief ceremony in Kogle in the Nandom Municipality to present the books, Ms Kenndicta A-ensonga Ajene, the Executive Director of A-ensonga Hearts, said the NERD project sought to bridge inequality in access to educational resources. “This project was inspired by the need to make teaching and learning easier and more effective for both teachers and students, especially in rural and under-resourced schools,” she said. It also contributes to the promoting equitable access to quality education in line with Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG 4).

 The NGO partnered with Alpha and Omega Publications, Kems Crafts, corporate bodies, and individual donors to support the distribution of new and fairly used textbooks, exercise books and related learning materials to the under-resourced schools. Alpha and Omega Publications contributed assorted textbooks, including Science, Creative Arts, Reading, Numeracy and Phonics books, while individuals and philanthropies donated 1,054 exercise books. Also, Kems Crafts supported the initiative with 50 reusable tote bags made from fabric pieces to promote sustainability. 

The donation in the Upper West Region followed a similar exercise in the Upper East Region where 3,435 materials were delivered to ten schools earlier this year. Ms Ajene lamented the lack of access to basic learning materials in deprived schools and emphasised the need to build a strong foundation with the necessary teaching and learning resources. She also urged the Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) of the various schools to take steps to improve the education of their wards. 

As part of the initiative, notepads were also awarded to pupils who excelled academically to motivate excellence and hard work. Ms Ajene expressed appreciation to the organisations and individuals who supported the exercise, including Alpha and Omega Publications and Kems Crafts. She appealed for more support and partnerships to enable her to sustain the initiative and to reach more under-served schools. 

Macrina Kuusagnayir, a student of the Kogle R/C JHS, thanked A-ensonga Hearts for putting “smiles” on their faces through the donation. “We are really overwhelmed this morning, you have put smiles on our faces,” Madam Grace Frans, a teacher at the Kogle JHS also said. They said the books would help improve teaching and learning and their academic performances.