More than 15 communities in East Mamprusi Municipality are without school

The future of a number of children in the East Mamprusi Municipality hangs in the balance as they are denied access to basic education. 

More than 15 communities in the Municipality are said to be without schools. 

The unfortunate development, according to residents gives cause for concern because children of school going age in the affected areas indulge in life threatening activities among other social vices, thereby endangering their educational pursuit. 

To this background, a group calling itself  "Coalition of Communities without Schools", has since petitioned government through the East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly but is yet to receive any favourable response. 

Speaking to Radio Ghana, the Secretary of the coalition, Isaac Zakaria called on the assembly to as a matter of urgency expedite action by providing educational facilities to salvage the situation. 

Mr. Zakaria expressed graved concern over the issue and challenged the assembly to heed to their request. 

He mentioned some of the affected communities as Kpalgu, Kpating, Gbankpok, Gnaani, Jablago, Kanchina, Lanya and Mannyo. 

Others include Waburi, Nayeri, Nagbai East, Teanobo and Jarigitinga among others. 

He said education is key to unlocking the shackles of poverty so depriving children of their right to access education means underdevelopment. 

This however, implies that education is not just a right that must be enjoyed by all but a prerequisite for development. 

It was therefore the responsibility of duty bearers to ensure that the necessary structures are in place for children of school going age to access. 

Mr. Zakaria who was saddened about the level of underdevelopment in the affected communities, said most children in his vicinity and its catchment area were not in school not because parents do not want them to be in school but because the facilities are not there.  

He also appealed to the GES to consider establishing primary schools in the communities in order to accommodate  for learners under the Ghana Complementary Basic Education Programme, CBE which is a functional literacy programme designed by the government to provide all out of school children with the needed numeracy and literacy skills before they are transitioned into formal school system. 

When contacted, the MCE for East Mamprusi Municipal, Abdul-Nasir Danladi confirmed that indeed most communities were without school infrastructure but that notwithstanding, the assembly was making frantic effort to reach out to them. 

He said the assembly was currently working on modalities to assist such communities with classroom blocks to promote inclusion in line with provisions made in SDG 4, which speaks volume on access to quality education for all.

gbcghanaonline.com
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