Central
Background
The Cape Coast Metropolis is bounded to the south by the Gulf of Guinea, to the west by the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Municipal, to the east by Abura-Aseibu-Kwamankese District and to the north by the Twifo-Heman-Lower Denkyira District. The population is 2,201,863 according to the 2010 Population and Housing Census.
Current Literacy Rate by Gender
The literacy rate in the region is slightly more than 75.2%. Cape Coast Metro has the highest literacy rate 75.3% among the 20 Districts in the region. The male literacy rate is 84.7% as against 67.4% for females.
Status of Literacy Classes on the Ground
The Cape Coast Metropolitan NFED has 5 zones, namely, Amanful/Ekon, Ola/Apewosika, Abura, Mpeasem and Efutu. Currently, there are 16 classes, made up of mostly batches 16 and 17 classes as well as model classes. The Metropolis has a total of 423 learners, comprising 141 males and 282 females.
Role of Communities
The various communities in the Cape Coast Metropolis have played a remarkable role in promoting functional literacy. Opinion leaders such as the Traditional Authorities, Assembly Members and Pastors in the various communities are cardinal stakeholders in promoting the activities of NFED within the metropolis. For instance, they have been instrumental in the provision of meeting places for the classes. They also volunteer themselves as facilitators for the programme and serve on the Class Advisory Committees as members.
Brief on District Partners
The main partner in the district is the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly. They have been a source of support in promoting functional literacy within Cape Coast and its environs.
Use of Learning Support Systems in the Region
The office has supplied all classes under its jurisdiction with Book-Boxes. Some of the classes have successfully completed the lessons in both primer one and two and have therefore been supplied with supplementary readers. The intention is to improve their reading skills and broaden their scope on topics in the primer.
The office has not been able to partner any radio station to promote the NFLP on radio.
Status of Income Generating Activities in the District
There are currently two viable IGA groups in the Metropolis. They are Asamasa NFED Co -operative Farmers and Marketing Society and Ekon Catholic Literacy Class. Other groups are Wiomua Methodist which is engaged in Gari Processing and Wiomua Catholic which is also undertaking Palm Oil Production. These IGA groups started with their own contributions until the Regional Office came in to support them with loans to expand their project.
Districts
- Abura/Asebu/Kwamankese
- Agona East
- Agona West Municipal
- Ajumako/Enyan/Essiam
- Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa
- Assin North Municipal
- Assin South
- Awutu-Senya
- Awutu Senya East
- Cape Coast Metropolitan
- Effutu Municipal
- Ekumfi
- Gomoa East
- Gomoa West
- Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem
- Mfantseman Municipal
- Twifo-Ati Mokwa
- Twifo/Heman/Lower Denkyira
- Upper Denkyira East Municipal
- Upper Denkyira West
Facilitators’ Training In Cape Coast
A one-day workshop for selected facilitators of the ‘Abide-In-Me Ministries’, a non-governmental organization, has been held at Wiomuah, a suburb of Cape Coast in the Central Region. The training workshop was organized by the Central Regional Office of the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) at the behest of the NGO, whose major objective is to help improve the living standards of the rural poor.
The training workshop was aimed at helping the participants to acquire the requisite skills and methodology needed o facilitate studies in basic Fante language. Participants were also exposed to the identification and use of appropriate materials to enhance facilitation in the Functional Literacy Programme.
Two resource persons, Mr. Raphael Mensah and Mr. Edward Mensah both from the Regional Office of the NFED, trained the participants. In a welcome address, the central regional Director of the Division, Mr. Gideon Kojo Fianya, appealed to them to take the training seriously since they were going to use the knowledge gained to help their communities to solve societal problems related to the eradication of poverty and the elimination of diseases.
They were taken through Class Organisation and Management, Introduction to steps in Facilitating Reading and Writing Fante and Basic Numeracy among other topics.
In his closing remarks, the Founder of the NGO, Rev. Fr. Francis Acquah-Sagoe of the Wiomuah Catholic Church thanked both the resource persons and the participants for their dedication to the cause of providing functional literacy for the under-privileged and also appealed to the participants to apply the new skills and knowledge gained to improve on the social and economic lifestyles of people in their various communities.
CREDIT TO THE DAILY GRAPHIC: Tuesday 22nd September, 2015