The Bongo District Assembly in the Upper East Region has presented a total of 508 pieces of wooden dual-desks to the district’s directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES) for onward distribution to schools that were in most need.
District Chief Executive (DCE) for Bongo, Mr. Peter Ayinbisa Ayamga who made the presentation as part of activities marking the annual “My-First-Day-At-School” visitation to schools, disclosed that the Assembly paid for the procurement and transportation of the furniture with an amount of 175,000.00 Ghana Cedis from the District Development Facility (DDF).
The DCE explained that after he took office over a year ago, he undertook some inspection tours to several schools in the district during which he found out that, a number of students either sat or laid on the floor during lessons. He said he thereafter directed the GES to furnish his office with a list of schools without furniture for necessary action to be taken and was therefore happy that, the presentation was eventually made.
He remarked “for me, teaching and learning cannot be complete without furniture. It is not proper to have children sit on the floor or carry stools from their mothers’ kitchens to school daily”. He noted that, it was the responsibility of Government to provide adequate educational logistics to schools and that, the Bongo Assembly had lived up to that responsibility.
Mr. Ayamga noted that elsewhere, some DCEs often personally directed the distribution of the dual desks but that in the case of Bongo, he trusted that the GES director and his technical staff were more properly positioned to do an effective and optimum allocation of the desks. He charged the GES directorate to ensure that school authorities undertake routine maintenance of the furniture and other educational materials in their care.
Bongo District GES Director, Mr. Madison Amokase Anaane upon receipt of the furniture commended Management of the Assembly for the gesture and promised that, he would discuss with his headteahers to set aside a portion of their Capitation Grants for the purposes of maintenance of the school furniture among others.
Meanwhile when the DCE and his team made a stop earlier on at the Ayopia Primary school, he handed a site to a contractor for the construction of a two-unit Kindergarten (KG) block with a modern playground. The DCE disclosed that the project being funded by the DDF, cost the Assembly 215,512.00 Ghana Cedis and is expected to be completed within six months. He tasked the contractor, Apogana Enterprise to do an excellent job and also endeavor to engage labour from the surrounding communities.
The “My-First-Day-At-School” visits earlier in the day, took the DCE to the Nyariga D/A Primary School where the KG had enrolled 19 girls and 20 boys as first-timers at school while the Primary section recorded 23 boys and 15 girls. The school’s headteacher, Mr. Norbert Azaanser called for its inclusion in the Ghana School Feeding Progamme (GSFP) explaining that the school’s admissions had been dwindling over the past few years because, parents preferred enrolling their wards in near-by schools that were beneficiaries of the GSFP.
The DCE’s visits also took him and his team, including the Paramount Chief of Bongo, Naba Baba Salifu A. Lemyaarum, to the Kanga DA Primary, the Feo Primary A and B as well as the Namoo Primary school which had registered 29 new entrants into KG and 26 fresh pupils into Primary one. Some assorted dinks and biscuits were shared among the school children in all the schools visited.
Source: Peter Atogewe Wedam (ISD)