Twenty-Six (26) pupils from Cours Lumière, Republic of Togo, have arrived at the University Primary School for a two-week exchange programme.
The pupils were welcomed by some officials of UCC, headteachers of the four Basic Schools, host parents and pupils of the Primary School.
The exchange programme forms part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UCC and Cours Lumière in 2017 that allows both institutions among other activities of mutual interest, to promote the learning and use of English and French through the “Family and School Immersion Programme”. T
Speaking at an orientation ceremony, the headteacher of the University Primary School, Mrs. Georgina Aglobitse, said the School was privileged to host the second batch of pupils from Cours Lumière. She explained that the University Primary School and some selected parents hosted the first batch of pupils from Cours Lumiere on a pilot bases from Thursday, 26th October to Thursday, 2nd November, 2017. “This first visit turned out to be very beneficial to pupils and host families in terms of language proficiency in French and English, “she indicated.
Mrs. Aglobitse entreated host parents to treat the pupils who would be staying with them for the two-week period as their own children adding that “Host families have to create a conducive environment for the visiting pupils to interact with their children so that they will be proficient in English and French languages and also share experiences.”
Mrs. Aglobitse said that during their two week stay, they would be engaged in academic and social activities such as special classes in English, sport and games, creative arts workshops and excursions. She indicated that 30 pupils from UCC Basic School would also visit their counterparts in Togo from 3rd to 17th March, 2018.
The Junior Assistant Registrar at the Centre for International Education (CIE), Mr. Alfred Ghartey, who represented the Director of CIE, said the Centre coordinated the collaboration between UCC Basic School and Cours Lumière. “It is our expectation that this project would help our children to be multilingual to boost their future career prospects and also improve the international cooperation between Ghana and that of other African countries especially, Francophone countries”, he stated.
Present at the opening reception were the Director of Academic Affairs, Mr. Jeff Onyame, Senior Lecturer, Dr. Anthony De-Souza of the Department of French (Coordinator of the Project), headteachers of UCC Junior High School, Basic School Annex and Kindergarten; host parents and pupils of UCC Primary School.