Salaga (Northern Region) 17 June '99
There has been a 100 per cent increase in the enrolment of school children in the East Gonja district four years after the education system there almost collapsed, following the 1994 ethnic conflict in parts of the Northern region.
A Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, disclosed this at Salaga on Tuesday when he began a four-day tour of first and second cycle schools in six districts to ascertain their degree of recovery from the conflict.
The other districts on his itinerary are Yendi, Nanumba, Saboba-Chereponi, Zabzugu/Tatale and Gushiegu/Karaga where he and his entourage, including the Director-General of Education, Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, will also learn at first hand the peculiar problems facing school there.
Addressing a meeting of headteachers to start the tour, Dr Chambas said it was a big achievement for the district to recover not only to previous levels but to gain a further increment of 100 per cent.
"We have been receiving good reports about this district and our visit is to ensure that children in this district are not left out in the 21st century by providing them with quality education."
During a courtesy call on the Kpembe-Wura, Alhaji Ibrahim Harruna, the Dr Chambas stressed the need for closer collaboration between traditional authorities and the GES in the provision of quality education.
"Traditional authorities are key players in the educational enterprise. We recognise that, in order to achieve high enrolment and to ensure that teachers who are posted to districts remain, we have to involve our chiefs in the management of our schools."
Dr Chambas assured the Kpembe-wura that the GES would post more teachers to the district in view of the high enrolment recorded.
The Kpembe-Wura assured the GES that perfect peace now prevails in the district and, therefore, the safety of teachers posted to the region is assured.
He appealed to the GES to help rehabilitate the Kpembe primary school which was established in 1937, saying: "it is the cradle of education in this district and there is the need for it to be restored to its former glory".
