Pupils in classroom
Many of the projects initiated by former First Lady of Ghana – Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings – have started showing signs of deterioration, as they were not cared for when the 31st December Women Movement became inactive.
The 31st December Women Movement is the organisation that initiated and operated the projects at a time when former President Rawlings was in office.
There were bakeries operated by members of the Movement as well as some day-care centres and basic schools which were supposed to keep the children of the women to enable them go about their businesses during the day.
For example, in the Bolgatanga Municipality in the Upper East Region, some of the projects of the Movement are not in use, while a few can be seen operating. An example is the 31st December Women’s Movement Kindergarten in the Tindonsobligo community in the Bolgatanga Municipality.
The school has never benefitted from the Ghana School Feeding Programme since it commenced.
Management and parents want the school to be added to the beneficiaries of the School Feeding Programme (SFP). In the past, the former first lady supported the school just like other 31st December Women’s Movement schools, but the support has stopped coming in recent times.
The Assistant Headmistress of the school, Akanzire Christy, who spoke on behalf of management of the school, said the population of the school was dwindling because parents wanted their children to attend schools that are benefitting from the SFP.
Unfortunately, not all the children withdrawn from the kindergarten are able to walk long distances from Tindonsobligo to schools that are benefiting from the SFP.
A visit to the school by DAILY GUIDE revealed that indeed the pupil population had dwindled. The kindergarten has only 34 children, leaving many rooms unoccupied.
Apart from their absence on the list of SFP, the structure of the school is also deteriorating and looks scary. And this has been the reason why some children stay at home for fear of being injured by the structure.
A former Bolgatanga District Chairperson of the 31st December Women’s Movement and assembly woman for the Tindonsobligo Electoral Area, Stella Anafo, recounted how the kindergarten used to benefit many children in the community and yet successive governments have not enrolled the school onto the SFP.
Whiles calling on government to add the school to the programme, the former Bolgatanga District Chairperson of the 31st December Women’s Movement, Stella Anafo, has also urged the former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, to revisit the various projects of the Movement and use her influence to solicit public and philanthropic support for them.
FROM: Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Tindonsobligo