Speaking during a Meet-the-Press session on Thursday, the Minister buttressed his point by indicating that, some of the notable reports of infrastructure deficit, were in schools with fewer students than the capacity on record.

He cited Vitting SHS in Tamale and La Presbyterian SHS in Accra, where infrastructural challenges were brought to light by Citi News.

La Presby SHS first years were seen studying on cement blocks in uncompleted classrooms, whilst students of Vitting SHS were sleeping on verandas and under trees because of pressure on their limited infrastructure.

La Presby SHS has since benefitted from desks donated by McDan Shipping and the La Dadekotopon Assembly, whilst the Northern Regional Minister has been to Vitting SHS on a fact-finding mission.

But for these two schools in particular, Dr. Opoku Prempeh said their headmasters had even requested more students but were given less, and so the government could not be blamed for the pressure on their facilities.

“There is one particular school, Vitting, that the Head’s letter to us requested 533 students. As at now, 517 students are enrolled. How did we [the government] or free SHS cause congestion in Vitting. The Head said he could accommodate 533. As we speak, it is not 533 that have registered but 517. But Vitting is reported as free SHS causing congestion. ”

For La Presby, he recalled that the school’s administration “asked for 607. As we speak, it is 533 in that school. But La Presby has been touted as the poster boy of Free SHS… is it Free SHS that has caused that problem in La Presby?” the minister questioned.

Infrastructure relief for schools

This notwithstanding, the government has already put in place measures to alleviate these challenges as an amount of Ghc80 million cedis has been allocated to address the challenges relating to furniture and beds.

President Nana Akufo-Addo recently announced that contracts will soon be awarded for the provision of 69,500 single desks and 13,100 bunk beds to Senior High Schools across the country.

“…so those that have brought the list, we have done tenders and we will be buying them and supplying them to the schools. But I sincerely believe that if the government is determined to do this, A child should still have access to the school to study and learn than to be thrown on the street at the age of 15,” Dr. Opoku Prempeh said.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to McDan Shipping, the Tuesday morning delivery is the first batch of the entire package promised the school.

Citi FM has given the infrastructure deficit in senior high schools extensive coverage, prompting a pledge from the Education Ministry to make the necessary provisions to the needy schools.

The school had already made headlines when its headteacher, who was subsequently interdicted by the Ghana Education Service, said first-year students under the Free SHS policy, had to pay GHc 80 for desks or risk standing during classes.

The La Presby first-year students were seen to be sitting on makeshift chairs comprising wooden planks supported by cement blocks.

The CEO of McDan Shipping, Daniel Makorley, subsequently visited the school and pledged to donate furniture to first-year classrooms.

As part of their celebrations upon receipt of the desks, the students were heard shouting appellations like “one man one seat, “no bore blocks”, “our backs will rest” and “no more back pains again.”

The students expressed their gratitude to the company, saying the desks will go a long way to improve teaching and learning.

“God bless him. We thank him for what he has done for us. May he get a long life; I don’t even know how to express myself today,” one student said.

“This time we can learn hard. At first we couldn’t learn well because we were sitting on blocks, but now we can focus on our work,” another noted.

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By: Anas Seidu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post No more cement blocks; La Presby students finally get desks appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Otto Plahar, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, speaking to Citi News, said the school has already sent its audit team, and the Ministry is aware of the situation.

He said officials of the Ministry visited the school, and the number of desks needed will be delivered to them.

“I was at the La Presby about two days ago to see for myself what is on the ground. The problem was the furniture they had earlier was not of the best standard, so most of them got destroyed.”

“They [La Presby management] just sent their furniture for audit, we have to know the exact number of desk they need…You know it is the duty of the Ministry to do that,” he said.

Otto Plahar also commended Citi FM for highlighting the predicaments of the first year students, who were seen to be sitting on cement blocks during classes.

The school had already made headlines when its head teacher, Samuel Salamat, was interdicted by the Ghana Education Service for asking first-year students to pay GHc 80 for desks.

This again raised a question of the quality and equity aspect of the free secondary education in Ghana.

Following Citi News’ reports on the plight of the students, the CEO of McDan Shipping, Daniel Makorley, pledged to assist the students with desks.

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Education Ministry pledges desks for La Presby SHS appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Citi News’ serialized reports on the school’s troubling infrastructure deficit, caught the attention of the CEO, who also said furniture would also be provided for the teachers.

Mr. Makorley said this gesture was his own way of giving back to the society that developed him.

He was seemingly stunned by the conditions of school in Ghana’s capital city.

“It is serious. I really don’t have words to explain it. When I heard your news, it broke my heart a little. I had a lot of things to do, but had to cancel to be here this morning [Tuesday] to assess the situation,” he told Citi News.

“I didn’t know the extent of the problem, but from what I am seeing right now, it is serious. It’s the middle of the city and kids are sitting on blocks learning. Some are virtually standing, and you can also see that the classrooms are over crowded.”

He said he was going to contract a furniture shop to start producing tables and chairs for them immediately.

“This is what I can also do to help my community. I can’t do much,” Mr. Makorley said, adding that it was about time the private sector stepped in to aid some of the schools in need “and pay back to the society.”

“It’s heartbreaking that we will see kids like this in the middle of the city. This is not a village. Its right in the middle of the city and they are sitting on blocks learning.”

Despite the promise of furniture, the students still have to contend with studies in uncompleted buildings and some classrooms even lack marker boards.

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By: Anas Seidu & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post McDan CEO to rescue La Presby students studying on cement blocks appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He cited Ghana’s attainment of a middle income status and the world economic meltdown as major reasons why most of the “big time players in the donor community” would either withdraw their support completely or cut down their support by 50 per cent.

Mr. Ibrahim-Tanko, who stated this during an interaction with the media in Wa, said the country must start exploring possible ways of funding its own organizations to overcome the situation.

The STAR-Ghana Programme Manager suggested the establishment of a National Endowment Fund where all Ghanaians would contribute into, to finance Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to enable it to continue with the good work of empowering rural communities.

He however underscored the need for CSOs to develop the attitude of being more accountable to their people rather than their donors, as had always being the case.

This, according to him would erase the perception that CSOs were serving more of their interests than the needs of the rural poor communities.

Mr. Ibrahim-Tanko noted that to date, STAR-Ghana had committed approximately 36 million dollars to support projects targeted at promoting responsiveness and accountability in the country.

Over 150 civil society projects are being funded in the programme’s priority areas of health, education, oil and gas, access to justice and democratic governance.

STAR-Ghana is also supporting the Parliament of Ghana to enhance its capacity to fulfil its mandate, particularly, the exercise of its oversight role.

Mr. Ibrahim-Tanko again disclosed that STAR-Ghana supported 24 media organizations with grants to the tune of approximately 2.5 million dollars to develop and implement programmes aimed at advocating for more inclusive access to quality public services for all Ghanaians and to strengthen democratic governance in the country.

He announced that the phase one of STAR-Ghana programme would come to an end in May 2015, and that, they have begun the process of taking stock and documenting the lessons, ahead of the phase two.

He said the visit to the Upper West Region was to afford them the opportunity “to hear from our partners, what had worked and what had not to enable us to see how best we could consolidate the gains for the future.”

Source: GNA

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