The Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) has handed over a modern library to the Osu Salem Basic School in Accra to improve teaching, learning, and student performance in the final year examinations.
Named: “Henrietta Adjei’s Memorial Library” after the late headmistress, the facility is equipped with computers, textbooks, storybooks, past Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) questions, atlases, globes, ceiling fans, and furniture.
The storybooks include: The Magic Porridge Pot, The Princess and the Frog, Who Killed Change? The Cockcrow, and Grandma’s List.
The textbooks cover subjects like English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, Creative Arts, French, and Ga-English Translation, along with catering books and dictionaries for the various grades.
As part of CBG’s “Give to Get and Employee Volunteering Project,” the bank also refurbished sections of the school by repainting walls, replacing ceilings, and furnishing the headmaster’s office with sofas, a television set, and a refrigerator.
Mrs Esi Mmirba Wilson, the Director of People and Transformation at CBG, said the bank identified the school’s need for a library through the Municipal Education Directorate.
Learning and development were integral to the bank’s success, she said, and that supporting Salem Basic School, which never had a library, was essential to enhancing children’s knowledge and understanding of the subjects they studied.
Mrs Wilson expressed the hope that the facility would foster critical thinking and creativity in students amid advancements in Artificial Intelligence.
“Instead of making children spend hours on tablets, buy books for them, or let them use the school’s library to enhance their intelligence,” she advised parents.
Mrs Wilson recommended hiring a librarian to preserve the books and maintain order.
“As children as they are, some might walk into the library with soiled hands, and two might fight over the same book, so the librarian must sensitise the children on the need and how to keep the books for future use,” she added.
Mr Seth Obiri Mante, the Head of Human Resource Management, Korle Klottey Municipal Education Directorate, welcomed the initiative, saying the library would help children to conduct research and develop innovative solutions.
“Today’s curriculum is different and places a lot of emphasis on the need for children to do research, and so this library will help them to come up with innovative solutions even at their tender age,” he said.
“Years ago, education was more teacher-centred and the teacher only taught what he or she knew, but now we give opportunity to the children to think and bring solutions to the table. Therefore, we are so pleased with the facility.”
Mr Mantey urged learners to use the library with guidance by their teachers to combat misinformation and disinformation.
He encouraged parents to tour the facility and support their children’s education.
Mr Emmanuel Nii Tackie Tackey, the Headteacher, Osu Salem Basic 1, expressed gratitude to the bank for its impactful support, emphasising the importance of computers in schools, especially in the current digital age.
He noted that final year students were learning computing and preparing for their examinations but lacked the equipment for practical knowledge.
The library would significantly enhance teaching and learning, he said, adding: “If an exam demands that a child mentions parts of a computer, the child might not be able to when he or she has not tried using one before so this would help a lot.” “We are anticipating to see improved BECE results from our upcoming final year students or the subsequent ones with this facility.”
