School authorities at the Piengua Yokuenor M /A Primary School in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal of the eastern region are expressing concern over the school’s current low enrolment.
The school, which has facilities to accommodate more than 120 pupils currently has only 62 pupils reporting for school for the new academic term.
This situation was discovered by the Municipal Chief Executive for Lower Manya Krobo, Simon Kweku Tetteh when he visited the school as part of his ‘My First Day At School’ tour on Monday.
The MCE who attributed the challenge to the absence of the school feeding program at the school and the dire infrastructural challenges, said the situation forced parents to send their wards to nearby schools where the program was being ran.
“The enrolment in the school has reduced badly and the situation is largely due to the absence of the school feeding project and the deplorable state of the school’s infrastructure,” the Hon MCE observed in an interview with Rite news adding that the introduction of the program in the school will provide great relief to the children.
The broad and specific policy objectives of the Ghana School Feeding Programme were to improve school enrolment, attendance and retention among pupils in the most deprived communities in Ghana.
The basic idea of the program has been to provide children in public primary schools and kindergartens with one hot nutritious meal, prepared from locally grown foodstuffs, on every school-going day.
The Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) has been in implementation since 2005 in the context of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) Pillar III, and in response to the first and second Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and achieving universal primary education.
The Piengua Yokuenor M /A Primary School which until the last academic term boasted of over 120 pupils suffered significant reduction in its enrolment this term as just over 60 pupils had reported for school as at Monday, one week after the reopening date.
Many of the pupils had deserted the school for surrounding educational facilities where the school feeding program is running.
Introduction of school feeding program
To salvage the low enrolment, the Municipal assembly is employing some intervention measures to deal with the problem at the Piengua Yokuenor M /A Primary School including the introduction of the school feeding program.
The program which has begun in earnest in the school this academic year will hopefully improve on enrolment.
The Hon MCE, Simon Kweku Tetteh said the completion of the construction of a six unit classroom block which is currently being built by the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly together with the provision of mono desks to the pupils will greatly improve the school’s enrolment fortunes.
Circuit Supervisor
Circuit supervisor for the area who accompanied the MCE on the visit, expressed concern over the low enrolment at the school.
Madam Florence Dugbartey while blaming the absence of the school feeding program and the poor school infrastructure however expressed optimism in improvement in the school’s enrolment with the introduction of the school feeding program and the completion of the classroom block which will give the school a massive facelift.
These developments, she hoped will greatly attract other parents to bring their wards to the school to improve the enrolment of the school.
Meanwhile, headmistress of the Piengua Yokuenor M /A Primary School, Madam Rose Awaitey also expressed regret over the mass exodus which has hit the school and expressed her appreciation to the MCE for instituting interventional measures to salvage the situation.
Source: ritefmonline.org
