Civil Society Organization in the Upper East region, BONABOTO has accused past and present governments of deliberately perpetuating marginalization of the north by carefully crafting to keep the northern part of the country in perpetual underdevelopment and disdain.
According to the association, the actions and inactions of various governments towards the release of feeding grants to second cycle institutions in the north is a clear manifestation of a lukewarm attitude to the development of the north.
Boarding students in the Upper East, Upper West and the Northern regions were sent home last Friday in order to pave way for Junior High School students to use the various schools for the Basic Education Certificate Examination. However, the supposed one week mid-term holidays has turned indefinite as students were asked to go home and be monitoring the media for the date of resumption of teaching and learning activities.
In a statement signed by its Upper East regional chairman Francis Atintono and Public Relations Officer Stanley Abopaam, BONABOTO lamented the perennial occurrence of this issue and its consequential effects on the entire Northern part of the country.
“We have lost total focus on the undisputed fact that education is an essential ingredient in containing underdevelopment, poverty and above all the tendency for civil unrest as witnessed in other countries in Africa. Over the past years, these young innocent Ghanaians have had to endure this ‘deliberate’ marginalizing action or inaction by various governments, which have contributed to the widening developmental disparities in this country. It is therefore not entirely out of place for anyone to think that these actions are carefully crafted to keep the northern part of the country in perpetual underdevelopment and disdain,” the statement said.
The statement added that as a country that has duly acknowledged the existence of a developmental gap between the north and south that ought to be bridged, it noted that the best way to bridge this gap is through education but the occasion of this unfortunate but avoidable situation is a testament of bad faith from governments and a “deliberate” marginalization tactic with an affront to the collective conscience of the nation.
The statement further called on the government to as a matter of urgency, settle all outstanding arrears owed the schools in Northern Ghana, while in the long run, consider a levy or tax policy solely dedicated to permanently funding the feeding grants as is done with GETFund, Road fund and communication tax etc.
“We wish to clearly state that, should government fail to immediately respond positively to this issue to ensure that these kids get back to school next week, we will not hesitate to undertake a series of coordinated actions to press home this legitimate demand” it added.
By: Adugbire Cletus | A1RADIOONLINE.com | GHANA
