By: Sampson David
Monrovia – Liberia, The Kids Educational Engagement Project (KEEP) with support from OXFAM has dedicated a Reading Room worth over thirty – thousand United States Dollars in Todee, Montserrado County.
The renovated and well-furnished reading room was turned over to the administration of Goba Town Public School in Todee District, Montserrado County over the weekend.
The Executive Director of KEEP, Brenda Moore, said the reading room is meant to enhance the learning skills of school-going kids across the country.
She said “We went to over seventy communities across the country and realized that there was one problem, and that problem was the children struggle to read. so, we decided to encourage the children to read.”
Madam Moore said she noticed that the kids could not read and comprehend in the absence of a reading room and books, thus prompting her to embark on the project.
“We cannot build or renovate the reading room without providing the necessary books. As we speak, we have made available one thousand seven hundred books for the reading room” she added.
She wants parents and teachers to ensure that the facility is utilized by students in the community.
“Making the books available is one thing and ensuring that the students read is another thing. The responsibility comes back to the parents and the teachers to make sure that the children read” noted the KEEP Executive Director.
She further said to the teachers, parents, and community leaders in Todee, “encourage the children to have access to the book, sometimes take the entire class to the reading room during reading or science session – because I know they will not learn if they can read well.”
Madam Moore added that the Goba Town Public School Reading Room marks the 24th reading room the organization has renovated and constructed across nine counties in the country.
For his part, the principal of the school, Taylor Kullie, thanked KEEP and OXFAM and promised to ensure that the facility is used for the intended purpose.
“I am very impressed about what KEEP has done for us. The school administration in collaboration with the Community and Parent-Teacher Association going to put a mechanism into place so that this facility can be protected”, he asserted
Established August 25, 2006, Goba Town Public School has been without a reading room, thus the intervention of KEEP-Liberia will go a long way in changing the face of learning in the District.
According to Mr. Kullie, the school recorded a total enrollment of 239 students last year, but 226 ended the school year.
He believed that the additional facility will attract more students next academic year.
