Syllabus Africa presents tablets to Foundation

eSyllabus for Africa, a non-governmental organisation, has presented 10 computer tablets with a market value of about 5,000 Ghana Cedis to the Street Children Empowerment Foundation (SCEF) in Accra.

The tablets, which have over 200 electronic books installed on it, are to facilitate learning and teaching at the foundation.

SCEF was established four years ago at James Town in Accra to provide educational opportunities for street and vulnerable children.

Mr Paul Semeh, Founder and Executive Director of SCEF, said they had 244 children on their database and hoped to reach out to 500 children to be in school within five years period.

“We are currently working with three schools, namely, Accra Sempe One and Two and Adendeinkpo One and Two. We assist the teachers from these schools in phoenix and play based learning methodologies, while we engage the children on creative learning, sexual awareness and play based learning,” he said.

Mr Semah said the Foundation serves as a social service centre where children could come to after school to learn.

He said they were also empowering all agents (especially mothers) that children come into contact with so that they could also empower the children to remain in school.

The empowerment programme include savings and loans scheme and micro enterprise such as beads and soap making and the women are provided with a start-up capital to begin their businesses.

He said so far all their members are financially independent and are able to cater for their wards’ needs in school.

Mr Quame Zowonu, Director of eSyllabus, West Africa, said the world had gone digital and there was the need for children, especially those in the pro-poor areas to be part of the digital world to catch up with their peers in the endowed schools.

He said there were more than 200 books installed on the tablets covering the fields of Mathematics, English and Science and expressed the hope that the children would take advantage of that to improve their lots.

Mr Zowonu said the main aim of the presentation apart from it being part of their social corporate responsibility it also aimed at getting children to acquaint themselves with tablet computers to promote effective learning and teaching.

Elaine Brown, Project Coordinator in charge of Social Work, expressed gratitude to eSyllabus for the items which she said would enhance the children’s reading and learning habits.

Tina Kortelainen, Project Coordinator in charge of Administration and Fundraising, said they got support from private individuals from Ghana, especially from the catchment area and donors from Finland, USA, Germany and the United Kingdom.

She said they used God Father System to solicit for funds for the children and they currently have 67 God Fathers who contribute monthly towards school kits, examination fees, health insurance and feeding of the children.

Similar presentation was made to Koforidua Regional Library on Monday at Koforidua.