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Community Watch: Klomagbi to the Aid of Kpong Presby School

By Joyce Bedeley

Klomagbi – a pressure group with the focus on promoting social responsibilities and based in the lower manya krobo municipality has set for itself another social responsibility – this time, towards the rehabilitation of the Presbyterian School at Kpong in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern region.

Highlighting this latest initiative on Rite FM’s ‘Community Watch’ with Austin Ofori Addo, Mr. Hillary Kodji–Clerk of Klomagbi explained that the motive behind the rehabilitation of the school was as a result of the dilapidated nature of the structure which wasn’t befitting the status of the facility as a learning center. Moreover, the school has now turned into a death trap to students.

Mr. Hilary who enumerated some of the group’s focuses noted that one such initiative, ‘Take Them Along,’ TTA, identifies with the educational needs of the selected schools to motivate the students to learn harder.

The Clerk of the group who lamented about the performance of the Kpong Presby School expressed his disappointment at their performance over the years. He was sad that a school which is located in the heart of a municipality could perform so poorly. ‘The highest percentage of the school to gain admission into Senior High Schools since 2013 was 12% with the best individual grade between the same period being an aggregate score of 27 which is very bad,’ Mr. Hillary noted.

The group thus formed a committee to unravel the causes of the problem, a report which identified the nature of the school building as a major factor for the poor student performance. During rainy days for instance, classes are brought to an abrupt end as students are forced to run for cover. In worst scenarios, students have to scoop water from their classrooms after the rains to be able to continue with their studies, also leaving in its trail wet desks which make learning very inconvenient.

But that, according to the clerk is not all of their woes as two students are forced to share a desk meant for one person.

It’s in this regard that the committee came up with a recommendation that since the students need a conducive environment to learn as well as to avert a possible disaster similar to the what happened earlier in February in the Central Region where six children died following the collapse of their school building, the students need a decent place to study, especially with the onset of the rains imminent.

Mr. Hillary referred to and commended the contributions and efforts of Dr. Stephen Manortey who is head of biostatistics at the Ensign College of Public health at Kpong and who is also an old student of the affected school. Dr. Manortey started the rehabilitation project from some part but somewhere along the line he stopped since there was no support from anywhere.

‘In the light of this Klomagbi decided to continue the project. We pleaded for some assistance from benevolent organizations to support the project since it cannot be done individually and now the Bethel Presby Congregation has partnered with the group to help organize ourselves and start the project,’ Mr. Hillary said.

Also contributing to the show, Rev Chris Baah- resident pastor of Bethel Presby Congregation also added that, the project was once started by his predecessor and one old student but which was forced to come to an abrupt end due to lack of funds.

He was unhappy that various promises to aid the school such as one made by Member of Parliament for the Lower Manya Krobo constituency, the honourable Okletey Terlarbi  have failed hence the church joining hands with the group to raise funds to rehabilitate the school.

Source: ritefmonline.org

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