The Volta River Authority Resettlement Trust Fund (VRARTF) and Pencils of Promise (PoP), an American non-governmental organisation (NGO), have handed over a 12-unit classroom block that belongs to the Nkwakubew Presbyterian Primary School in the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region to the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Presbyterian Church with a caution not to use the facility for social activities.
The 12-unit classroom block was jointly renovated by the two organisations at a cost of GH¢423,096.98.
It has a six-seater KVIP toilet, a three-unit apartment urinal, two polytanks for water storage, 55 dual desks, 12 teacher’s tables and chairs, two office tables and chairs and 26 ceiling fans for the classrooms.
Nkwakubew school
The Nkwakubew Presbyterian Primary, with a current enrolment of 437 (made up of 216 boys and 221 girls) and 17 members of staff, was established in 1963.
At the handing-over of the facility to the GES and the Presbyterian Church at Nkwakubew, both the VRARTF Chairman, Mr Emmanuel Nana Antwi Barimah, and the Country Director of the PoP, Mr Freeman Gobah, stressed the need for the facility not to be used for social activities such as church services and funeral activities.
“School buildings are meant for teachers and pupils for effective teaching and learning purposes.
Any other activity that takes place in school buildings is out of order and this new 12-unit classroom block for the Nkwakubew School should not be used for any other thing apart from teaching and learning.
“You know we put much resources into the renovation in the interest of the pupils of this Nkwakubew community and the other beneficiary communities. We, the two stakeholders, will be very happy if we come back some months and years later and see the facility still new, without cracks,” the VRATF Chairman emphasised.
Church activities
Mr Barimah said churches and other organisations used schools for their activities, thereby destroying the facilities, citing instances where school furniture was destroyed.
He suggested that such groups could make use of the field and not the classrooms.
Nana Barimah stated that out of 52 resettled communities along the Volta Lake, a good number had been assisted.
He expressed the hope that others that were in need would also be catered for as and when necessary.
Maintenance culture
Mr Gobah for his part lauded the partnership among PoP, VRARTF and the Nkwakubew community which resulted in the renovation of the facility.
He said the PoP started its operation in the Asuogyaman District seven years ago and since then seven new buildings with ancillary facilities had been built.
He thanked the assembly and the beneficiary communities for their joint support.
Mr Gobah said after the handover of the facility to the community, it behooved the community to maintain it well to extend its lifespan so that generations yet unborn could also benefit from it.
The District Director of Education for Asuogyaman, Mrs Theodora Kutorkor Ntee, who was represented by the Deputy Director in charge of Monitoring and Supervision, Mr Albert Agbeko Korku Alorbu, said effective teaching and learning thrived in a good school environment and assured the stakeholders that the education directorate would monitor every activity in the school for the children to derive benefit from the infrastructure.
The Asuogyaman District Chief Executive Mr Samuel Kwame Agyekum, commended the two stakeholders for taking up some of the responsibilities of the assembly to promote effective teaching and learning in the beneficiary communities.
He urged parents and guardians to supervise their children and wards so that they would learn hard in order to benefit from the free senior high school policy.
The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) Chairman, Mr Samuel Atinka, chaired the function and pledged that the PTA would ensure that the facility would be maintained.
