Lack of computers, non-enclosed classrooms hampering academic activities at Odumase Anglican Primary

Correspondence from Eastern Region

Headteacher of the Odumase-Anglican Primary School in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal of the Eastern Region is calling on the government, stakeholders and other benevolent organisations and individuals to complete a ‘half-built’ classroom block in the school into befitting, enclosed classrooms to improve teaching and learning at the school.

Madam Faustina Osei who was speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb lamented that the incomplete nature of the block which accommodates the lower primary section and one upper primary class of the school, affected teaching and learning in the school as the pupils and students are distracted by various activities outside the school as the block in question lies along a major road.

“You can see that this particular block is not fully completed and so the children are usually distracted by passing vehicles, persons and other activities and concentration is therefore affected,” said the headteacher, adding that this has affected enrolment in the school as parents are not comfortable with the situation.

Despite persistent appeals to authorities at the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly and the education office, the distressed school head says no favourable response has come forth.

“We have made several appeals to various authorities at the Assembly and education units but all to no avail, the situation continues to remain the same.”

According to her, though academic activities in the non-enclosed classrooms affected teaching and learning, the students were compelled to study there; a situation she says has affected enrolment.

Madam Osei says the situation has remained unchanged since she took over the administration of the school despite persistent appeals to the district and education authorities.

Lack of computers

Another difficulty Madam Faustina Osei disclosed is the lack of an Information Communication Technology lab for the school as the school is not in a financial position to acquire computers.

The situation has adversely affected the teaching and learning of ICT at the Odumase-Anglican primary ‘B’.

She said the school has not a single computer hence teachers had to use their imagination to teach ICT adding that most of their students had not used a computer before.

“We don’t even have computers, the ICT, we teach in abstracts. We tried getting some but unfortunately, we couldn’t finance it,” said madam Osei. Though the students are required to write the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in their final year, they are not being prepared adequately.

She appealed to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), philanthropists, and corporate bodies to support the school with computers so as to prepare the students adequately to write the ICT.

The school head further disclosed the school also lacked adequate desks which had compelled parents to provide chairs for their children. Corroborating the head teacher's assertions, a class six teacher of the school, Macbeth K. Buo narrated how he has to rely on his personal computer-aided with a projector for his ICT instructions.

He described the situation as a “very big challenge” and said the school will need between 10 and 15 computers to effectively teach the students.