Our children must school in dignity – Dr Kwabena Duffour

Since the break of the ‘Toilet to dormitory’ saga at GHANASCO, organisations and individuals have reacted to the issue either with condemnation or calls for it to be resolved.

One of such is the flagbearer hopeful of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Kwabena Duffour.

The former finance minister, in a twitter post, said he is saddened by the saga, indicating that the country has come a long way to still suffer infrastructural challenges in the education sector.

“It is heart-breaking and saddening that at this stage in the life of Ghana, after 66 years of Independence, some of our Senior High School children are being compelled to sleep in toilets because of the destruction of school facilities as well as the inability to rapidly replace/repair dilapidated structures," the tweet said.

According to him, the development is worrying, considering the work the government under late Atta-Mills put in to ensure that boarding facilities are abounding in second cycle institutions in the country.

“The inhuman story coming out of the Ghana Secondary School (GHANASCO), Tamale, is nothing short of sordid. Under the Administration of President Atta-Mills, and as Finance Minister, we tirelessly worked to efficiently deploy the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND), and other resources to conscientiously provide a deluge of boarding facilities for existing schools, and also constructed new schools with such facilities,” he added.

With the coming of Free SHS policy to provide education to senior high school students, the flagbearer hopeful, is of the view that it should be done in dignity.

“In as much as we desire to provide our children with free education, we must conscientiously also ensure that our children acquire education in dignity.”

He added that just as the authorities in the education service was quick to interdict the headmaster, policy makers should be quick to address the infrastructural challenges in secondary schools.

“While the rod is not being spared vis-a-vis the interdiction of the headmaster, let the Policy Makers honestly work towards providing adequate facilities to support the educational transformation process,” the tweet added.

Meanwhile, watch the latest SayItLoud episode on GhanaWeb TV below:



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