AngloGold Ashanti hands over fully furnished exams printing centre in Obuasi East to GES
AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine has once again demonstrated its commitment to maintaining the higher standards set by Obuasi in basic education .
The mining company on Thursday, 27th June, 2024 handed over a fully furnished examination center to the Ghana Education Service in the Obuasi East District. The center will help in the printing of examination question papers, including mock exams for final year students preparing for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The project which is estimated at a cost of about GHS 2,249, 281.00 (Two million, two hundred and forty-nine thousand, two hundred and eighty-one Ghana Cedis) lends credence to AGA’s commitment to improving the quality of education in Obuasi.
Speaking at a short ceremony to officially unveil the building, the Community relations manager of AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine Edmond Oduro Agyei said the exams center represents AngloGold Ashanti’s unwavering commitment to ensure youth in Obuasi succeed and improve quality education.
Obuasi has an enviable record in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) with students churning out good results over the years. Stakeholders in their quest to maintain the standard set over the years have been organizing mock examination to prepare the students for the exams.
Whiles the Obuasi East District Assembly was the only institution financing the mock Exams, AngloGold Ashanti through their community Investment strategy came on board and sponsored the printing of mock exam papers to support Obuasi basic school students prepare for the BECE.
According to the community relations manager of AGA, the company found this model as not sustaining hence collaborated with the Obuasi East District Assembly and the GES to put up a printing center to address the challenges encountered.
He revealed that the printers that have been installed at the center can print, sort, arrange and staple up to 100 pages per minute.
” We expect that when the centre begins operations, it will ensure that examination papers are produced accurately and efficiently, reducing the chances of errors or discrepancies in the papers”, he said
The Chief Executive of the Obuasi East District Faustina Amissah lauded AngloGold Ashanti for the bold initiative stressing that it has come at an opportune time to reduce the financial burden of printing mock Exams on the Assembly.
She was optimistic that the exams center coupled with other interventions by the Assembly and AngloGold Ashanti put the district in a good position to maintain its track record in the Basic Education Certificate Examination.
Meanwhile the Obuasi East District director of education Kwabena Owusu Nketia has said that the center will not only improve the quality of BECE results and education in general but will also create employment for those who will work there.
The project is expected to be managed by both the Obuasi East District Assembly and the education directorate. This Mr. Nketiah assured that adequate measures have been put in place to manage the facility to achieve its intended purpose.