PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION IN GHANA GETS A BOOST FROM OPEC FUND

Ghana singed a Primary Schools Project Loan Agreement with the OPEC Fund for International Development, at a short ceremony which took place at the OPEC Fund Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday, 5th September, 2007.

The Loan Agreement, which amounts to eight million, five hundred thousand United States Dollars (US$8.5 million), aims at assisting Ghana to enhance access to primary schools, improve teaching quality and to strengthen the management of such schools.

The proposed project under the Loan Agreement will, among other things, be attained through the construction of classroom blocks for selected primary schools, the construction of teacher accommodation blocks, as well as the provision of school furniture and equipment for teaching and learning, such as computers and library facilities.

In a brief statement, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the OPEC Fund, H.E. Mr. Jamal Nasser Lootah, who signed on behalf of his organisation, recalled the fruitful cooperation existing between Ghana and the Fund and stated that he was confident that the loan would enable the Government of Ghana to further develop the country's educational system.

His Excellency Mr. Kwabena Baah-Duodu, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ghana in Switzerland and Austria, who signed the loan on behalf of the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, expressed appreciation for the confidence which the OPEC Fund had in Ghana, and which had resulted in the Agreement to assist Ghana in her efforts to improve basic school education in the country. He observed that education was one of the major bedrocks for socio-economic development and that the Government of Ghana would ensure that the objectives of the project were realised.

Present at the ceremony were the Director-General of the OPEC Fund, Mr. Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, Mr. Mohammed Hassan, the Head of the Fund's Legal Department, Mr. Solomon Amieyeofori, Senior Operations Officer and other officials of the OPEC Fund. He was accompanied by Mr. Daniel Okaiteye-Blessyn, Counsellor at the Embassy of Ghana in Berne.