Absenteeism among students worrying
Absenteeism in primary and junior high schools, especially among final year students, has increased tremendously, and as such serious attention is needed to deal with the problem.
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The introduction of the school feeding programme increased the enrollment of learners in public schools, as learners are served food once a day, usually in the afternoon.
This really serve as a source of relief for parents and a form of motivation for the learners since most of them go to school on empty stomach.
With the introduction of Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education(FCUBE), some parents began to shirk their responsibility of giving their children food, especially in the morning in the house or what they send to school to eat during the first break.
Initiative
Although a good initiative, some of the public schools are not enjoying it fully and those which are, do not get nutritious food .
Learners are sometimes served with rice and stew with no fish, banku and tomato sauce, banku and hot pepper with very little fish.
A sound mind is found in a healthy body. So, in the case where learners are not fed well, how can they feel satisfied and fully prepare to stay in school to learn to be able to acquire the required skills and knowledge?
Education, it is said is the key to success, and therefore learners need to be educated properly to become successful in the future so as to contribute immensely to the development of the country.
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Besides, some public schools lack access to places of convenience. This also makes it difficult for girls who go through the menstruation stage to get the right place to clean themselves and dress properly to be able to cope with lessons at school.
A survey conducted recently by Plan International Ghana, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), indicated that forty nine per cent (49 per cent) of public schools lack sanitation facilities.
The survey revealed that the toilets in the schools did not have vent pipes, water to wash hands and even the slabs at the back of the seats were broken.
Sanitation
Moreso, most of the girls in various public schools do not get sanitary pads to use when they menstruate due to the high cost. Taxes were imposed on these sanitary pads, making them very expensive to buy.
It was in the light of this that Members of Parliament in Ghana once deliberated on that to make it easy and affordable.
Between 2012 and 2016, the former Minister of Education, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman, underscored the need for girls to be empowered and given the right education.
She distributed sanitary pads to girls in various schools to reduce drop out rate of girls.
Furthermore, most of the learners make a conscious effort to stay away from school, especially when they get to form three and are registered as candidates.
The recent measures adopted by the government through the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service to curb school dropout is a step in the right direction.
Absenteeism is a canker that eats into the fabric of the society and the country as a whole. I thereby urge the government and all stakeholders of education to work critically and strategically to foster the development of education in Ghana.
The writer is a student of the University of Education, Winneba