Since 2012, some public basic schools in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region have not received furniture from successive governments despite the increased enrollment of pupils.
Out of the over one hundred and four public basic schools in the area, not a single school has adequate furniture in the classrooms.
The situation, however, is causing discomfort amongst pupils, especially those who are in such classrooms. As a result, some of them have begun absenting themselves from school.
On a visit to some of the schools by our reporter, Moses Apiah, it became clear that some of the pupils who are able to go to school do not only have to sit on the bare floor, but also often lie on their bellies to learn.
Speaking to some of the students, they noted that some of their colleagues have stopped schooling due to the lack of furniture in the classrooms.
One said “I don’t like sitting on the floor, it makes my uniform dirty. I want to sit on a chair.”
Another one said, “my brother told me that he will no longer come to school until there is furniture in the classroom.”
Some of the teachers who failed to speak on tape explained that the issue goes beyond furniture as the teaching and learning of ICT continued to be a challenge.
“There are no computers here, even the textbooks are not easy to come by so, we are struggling here”, one said.
Another teacher said “anytime I enter the classroom to teach, the looks of the pupils usually demotivates me. We need support if not, things will go out of hand.”
Meanwhile, the Municipal Chief Executive for the area, Joseph Adongo when contacted in a phone-in interview, he gave the assurance that efforts were underway to support affected schools.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Moses Apiah|Bolgatanga|Ghana
