Communities urged to help improve conditions in schools

Apam (C/R), Oct. 1, GNA - Mr. Isaac I. Baidoo, Acting Gomoa District Director of Education, on Tuesday urged communities to show more commitment to the improving the conditions in schools in their areas. He said the days when schools were regarded as government property were over and that communities now had a responsibility not only in the improvement of the physical conditions of schools but also in ensuring effective teaching and learning.

He was speaking at a fund raising forum organised by the Parent-Teacher Association and School Management Committee (SMC), of the Apam Methodist A and C School towards the rehabilitation of a classroom block.

The 12-unit one storey block, which was donated to the school by Mr T. K. Caiquo, a citizens, in 1975 is in a deplorable state, as it had not undergone any renovation since its construction. The building has developed cracks, with the wooden barristers falling apart, while the entire block appears to be sinking, posing serious risk to the lives of the pupils and teachers.

Mr. Baidoo appealed to past students of the school, some of who are in responsible positions to help rehabilitate the block. Rev. George Ampiah-Bonney, outgoing Minister in charge of the Apam Methodist Church, advised parents to regard children as gifts from God, saying that a time would come when they would be asked to render account on the roles they played in the upbringing of the children entrusted to their care.

He reminded parents about the caution given by Jesus Christ about the maltreatment of children and said their inability to provide them with adequate facilities for their education amounted to maltreatment. Mr. T.B. Arthur, Gomoa District Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), deplored the attitude of the people towards communal labour.

He cited an instance in which a head teacher had to use his own money to hire labour to raise the foundation of a school block financed by European Union because the citizens who were to provide the counterpart funding in the form of communal labour failed to turn up.

The Headmaster, Mr. Harry Acquah said the school authorities were forced to admit only a small number of students this academic year due to the state of the building and appealed to the district assembly and donor agencies to help rehabilitate it.

Other speakers at the function included Mr. Kenneth Moorer, the school's SMC Chairman.