MIDA builds 243 school blocks in 30 districts

The Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has constructed a total of 243 school blocks in 30 districts of the country to serve farming communities.

Mr Martin Eson-Benjamin, Chief Executive Officer of MiDA who announced this at Karaga in the Northern Region on Monday said although the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Ghana Programme focused on improvement of commercial agriculture, a significant portion of it was spent on the provision of social infrastructure, like schools.


He said education is a catalyst for development and an important agent for economic transformation.


He said, it was for this reason that MiDA had spent so much to bring quality education to the children of farmers.


Mr Eson-Benjamin said during the needs assessment studies for Ghana’s Compact in 2005, Karaga stood out as one of the new districts which needed a lot of support to enable the area to take its rightful place in the community of districts.


He noted that educational facilities in the district were poor and MiDA therefore allocated 20 classroom blocks, ranging from two- to six classroom blocks.


He said this was the highest number of school facilities constructed in any district in the Northern Agriculture Zone under the programme.

Mr Eson-Benjamin said all the schools had been provided with sanitation facilities and a set of furniture.


He said handicapped ramps for easy access, rain catchment systems and 1,000 gallon tanks for water storage had also been provided, while all the school blocks in the district have been provided with teachers’ accommodation.


Mr Kurt Krausse, a Development Specialist at the US Embassy who represented the Country Director of the Millennium Challenge Corporation commended MiDA for utilising the fund to execute projects that would benefit the people.


He said Ghana stood the bright prospect to access the Second Compact of the MCA and added that when this becomes fruitful it would be invested in the energy sector of the economy.


Mr Mahama Ayariga, Deputy Minister of Education commended MiDA for the approach it had taken not only to alleviate poverty in the rural areas but also bring education to the people to enable them add value to whatever they produce.


He thanked the American government and its people for given their assistance to improve upon the life’s of the people and also commended the teachers who had accepted postings to the rural areas for their sacrifice.**