Residents of Brukum, a farming community near Agogo in the Yilo Krobo Municipality in the Eastern region, are in a state of sorrow and fear for the lives of their children following a deplorable nature of the only Junior High School in the community.
As a result, Parent Teacher Association chairperson for the school, Mr. Thomas Keni revealed that pupils and school going children in the community have opted for okro farming.
In a World Bank Report, buildings, classrooms, laboratories, and equipment- education infrastructure, are crucial elements of learning environments in schools. There is strong evidence that high-quality infrastructure facilitates better instruction, improves student outcomes, and reduces dropout rates, among other benefits.
During a visit to the community by team of journalists from Rite FM, some parents disclosed that the classrooms that facilitate learning are now death trap, envisage with cracks on the muddy walls, leakages from roofing; making it difficult for smooth teaching and learning especially in the raining season.
Eye witness report indicates that all the roofing sheets on the school building creates space as spacious as window space, a situation that leave the school no choice than to close the school when rain clouds form in the sky.
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The residents decried, successive governments have paid no attention to their needs leaving the community in poor.
The predominant occupation in the area is farming. However, road network from Agogo, a market center for sale of the their farm produce is poor and inaccessible to motorists, including okada.
“Common motor-bikes cannot even use this roads due to its bad state ; all our farm produce are perishing, we don’t even have portable drinking water “, they lamented.
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All effort since 2017 to get the school find its way into the Assembly’s budget have been proving futile.
Opinion leaders including Assembly member and chiefs warned politicians from opposition and ruling parties on their readiness to spew ‘venom’ ahead of the 2020 electioneering campaign.
The Dadematseme (chiefs), other opinion leaders, teachers, pupils and the entire community are appealing to government to urgently come to their aid.
Opinion
Schools, being the second home, serve a number of purposes in a child’s life. From boosting their confidence to making them learn the importance of team work and socialisation, schools do it all. Away from home, schools become the place for children to spend their maximum time.
Kids are sent to school considering the fact that there is an experienced hand to guide them and also a safe environment promoting growth. We also accept the fact that infrastructure plays a budding hand in creating a favorable environment for a child’s growth.
Sending children to a school where the building looks rundown and playgrounds need work can never be a good idea. Can parents feel safe sending their child to an environment like that? Children won’t feel satisfied in a place that lacks physical comfort and other basic facilities.
Schools should create an environment that not only assures learning, but also pays special attention to the mental and physical well-being of the students. Studies and researches conducted to figure out the effect of infrastructure suggest that students in schools with poor infrastructure can have lower achievement scores as compared to the ones studying in schools that have better infrastructure and facilities.
Source: ritefmonline.org
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