Coco Cola commissions school project

Aburi, (E/R), March 04, GNA - The visiting US Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Israel Hernandez on Tuesday inaugurated a 56,000-dollar school building at Aburi, funded by the Coca Cola Africa Foundation. Known as the Aburi Primary School Project, the amount also covered the provision of potable water and sanitation facilities for teachers and pupils.

The Coca Cola Foundation awarded the funds to Child Help Line Foundation, a Ghanaian Non Government Organisation (NGO) which undertook the project that has the aim of creating a congenial learning environment for the pupil.

Mr. Hernandez advised the pupils of the school, Aburi Presby Primary to take their study seriously in order to become good leaders in future. He later presented a Certificate of Merit to the Coca Cola Foundation for its commitment towards Africa's development especially in the area of education for children.

Ms. Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of State in-Charge of Education, said the act of learning and reading by children must not be the sole preserve of teachers. "Parents must bear the primary and bigger responsibility of training the child and therefore teachers' role must be seen as complementary," she said. Ms Ohene thanked Coca Cola Foundation for building the school which, she said, would provide a congenial environment and the needed facilities to make teaching and learning effective. Mr. Philippe Ayivor, Franchise Manager of Coca Cola Equatorial Africa Territory said the Foundation believed that infrastructure, access to safe and clean water, personal hygiene and the provision of library was critical to good educational development. He said the Foundation's programmes were focused in four key areas: water, health, education and entrepreneurship. Mr. Ayivor said more than 1.5 million dollars had been invested in communities in the country for the past two years.