Teachers and pupils at the Chati Akura in the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti region have indicated that education for them is riskier than being on the farm.
This is because the Chati Akura M/A basic school cannot boast of safe and well-equipped classrooms, library, ICT laboratory, and playground.
The situation is dire for, especially those in Kindergarten who are forced to sit on the ground or use the roots of the Baobab tree, under which they are being taught, as furniture.
This came to light when a resident of the area lamented about the condition under which pupils were being taught. According to Nana Owusu, a resident, the structure does not in any way qualify to be called a school as it is evident that the pupils only go there to waste time, play in the dirt and eat. “No teacher can teach under this condition and no child can learn here,” he stressed.
A visit to the school revealed that apart from the kindergarten studying under a tree, primary one to six have been combined under a dilapidated mud structure with a thatch roof.
One of the teachers who refused to mention his name noted that “teaching and learning here is a high risk. This structure (mud classroom) can cave in at any time. It is only by a miracle that we survive each day.”
Whereas their counterparts in urban areas will be having the best of education and furniture, most of these children have to be writing on their laps, he added.
Some of the pupils in primary six said they could not see a clear path to their future. For them, they have not had the best of education to qualify for higher education and well-paid jobs in the future. For them, it is a vicious cycle of poverty and lack. “We can never be at par with our colleagues in Nkwanta, Hohoe, and Ho not to talk of Accra,” one of them observed.
Nicholas Nignan Nakojam, Headmaster of the school added that the students and teachers are at the mercy of the weather; whether windy, rainy, or sunny, “We all suffer because we have nowhere to go.”
He said more often than not, schools have to be suspended when the weather gets harsh because they cannot risk their lives and that of the pupils that are in their care.
He, therefore, pleaded with the government, donors, and philanthropic organizations to come to the aid of the school.
P.T.A Chairman, Gmanye Gingin said due to the living standards of most of the parents, they are not able to support the school and children as they ought to. They have written and informed the Municipal Assembly and Education Directorate about the situation severally, but there has not been a positive response.
Jonathan Korsinah, the Municipal Education Director acknowledged the plight of the school. He said there are quite a several such schools in the Municipality, but progress has been made to improve some of them.
He noted that although it is the government’s responsibility to provide their educational infrastructure and logistics, the support of the community, philanthropists and donors are welcome to improve education in the area.
From Fred Duodu, Oti (k.duodu@yahoo.com)