Mrs. Adiki Ayitevie
Newmont Ghana has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with three implementing partners to improve access to quality education, especially in underserved schools in the country.
The three partners are Junior Achievement Africa (JAA), United Way Ghana (UWG) and the Ghana Library Authority (GLA).
The event was part of theNewmont National Corporate Social Responsibility strategy which focuses on three areas- health, education and youth empowerment.
Ms Adiki O. Ayitevie, the Vice President, Sustainability and External Relations, Newmont Ghana, said the agreement covered a three-year project costing 300,000 dollars on education and youth empowerment programmes.
She said under education, Newmont Ghana had developed the ‘Gold for Gold’ programme that promotes reading culture among lower primary pupils in targeted communities.
Ms Ayitevie said in collaboration with United Way Ghana and support from the GLA, Newmont Ghana was committed to refurbishing the libraries of partner institutions, the Nima Cluster of Schools and the Al-Waleed Basic School.
She said Newmont Ghana would also provide books, tablets and computers to enhance the educational experience in the partner institutions.
“We will hold scheduled school activities and community outreach programmes to encourage reading in and out of school”.
She said to sustain the programme, Newmont would provide training to librarians and teachers in their partner institutions and engage the government on improving the culture of reading in schools.
Ms Ayitevie stated that, under the education programme, Newmont would support GLA’s effort by funding their operations at the Sunyani Children’s Library and the Akim Oda Branch Library and their mobile library operations to extend their services to children who may not have access to libraries.
Touching on youth empowerment under the tertiary and secondary skills enhancement programme, she said the project would partner with JAA to enhance the skills and job readiness of senior high school and tertiary students through various initiatives and support Newmont’s global strategy of increasing representation and contribution of women within the mining industry.
She added that the partnership would also help organise leadership camps to empower young girls between the ages of 15 to 25 years to build their skills and broaden their options for their professional futures.
Dr Joyce Aryee, the Board Chair, Newmont Ghana, said the best approach to sustainable development was through partnerships and that Newmont would continue to uphold its purpose of touching the lives of people and creating value that can be shared by all stakeholders.
Madam Elizabeth Bintliff, the Chief Executive Officer, Junior Achievement Africa, said the partnership with Newmont had enabled staff of Newmont based in its global headquarters volunteer to teach financial literacy to Junior Achievement’s students in order to better prepare them for the business world.
“At Junior Achievement Africa, we believe in preparing Africa’s youth to take hold of the reins of Africa’s future by empowering them today,” she added.
Mr Hagan Siaw, the Acting Executive Director, Ghana Library Authority, said education was one of the powerful weapons to change the world and that the programme would provide literacy training at the basic education level and improve access to quality education in vulnerable schools.
Madam Janet Butler, Vice President, Africa Region and the Caribbean, United Way Worldwide, commended Newmont Ghana for the support, adding that it would help increase the reading habit of Ghanaians. GNA
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