Seven pupils share one textbook at Savelugu basic schools

The inadequate supply of textbooks to basic schools in the Savelugu/Nanton Municipality is affecting education outcome in the area as seven pupils in primary schools in the Municipality share one textbook.

The Savelugu/Nanton Municipal Director of Education, Alhassan Tahiru, who revealed this at an annual accountability forum at Savelugu on Friday, also stated that four pupils shared one textbook at the Junior High Schools in the Municipality.

The forum was to strengthen accountability and transparency in the utilization of public resources at the local level through active citizen participation to enhance quality service delivery and development. It was organized by the Ghana Anti-corruption Coalition in collaboration with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa and coordinated by the Savannah Integrity Rural Development Aid (SIRDA).

It brought together staff of the Municipality and some of the residents to discuss programmes of the Municipality and issues affecting the residents in terms of how the resources of the Municipality were being utilized.

Mr Tahiru said the situation would be even worse in the next academic year as most of the textbooks were not in good shape.

He said the last time the Municipality received textbooks was in 2013, adding that the inadequate supply of textbooks to schools in the Municipality was responsible for poor performance of candidates at the Basic Education Certificate Examinations over the years.

He, therefore, appealed to the government to supply especially core subject textbooks to schools in the Municipality to improve education delivery in the area.

Some of the residents, who took part in the forum, complained of poor health care services offered them at the Savelugu Government Hospital urging the Municipal Authority to take action to improve the situation.

Others also expressed concerns about the poor road network and educational infrastructure in the Municipality.

The Municipal Chief Executive for Savelugu/Nanton, Hajia Ayishetu Seidu, assured residents that her office was making efforts to address their concerns.

Hajia Seidu said the Municipality needed a lot more resources to undertake projects to bring relief to the people appealing to all to honour their civic responsibilities by paying rates to the assembly to increase it’s internally generated funds base.

The Executive Director of SIRDA, Hajia Alimah Sagito Saeed, urged residents to follow laid-down structures at the Municipality to seek information on issues such as the Assembly’s projects to promote accountability.