Maame Krobo Catholic School appeals for support

The Catholic Church has appealed for support to enable it to put up a school complex at Maame Krobo to serve the community and other adjoining communities in the Kwahu South Afram Plains District in the Eastern Region.

The three–storey complex will include an 18-classrooms blocks, computer laboratory, library, infirmary, art rooms and sport complex, among other facilities.

Known as the St Joseph School (SJS), the project which started last year is the brain child of Rev. Father Stephen Kofi Sakpaku, the Parish Priest of the St Joseph Catholic Church at Maame Krobo.

Rev. Fr Sakpaku said the project was an extension of the current St Joseph School at the mission house, which had space for only pupils from nursery to primary two, with classes for primary one and two being conducted in the church auditorium.

The project, he explained, was to ensure that the children in the community had uninterrupted quality education from primary level to the junior high school level.

“We want this school to be a model one with all the needed facilities to ensure that pupils from these deprived areas also have access to quality education,” he said in an interview with the Daily Graphic.

Finance

Rev. Fr Sakpaku, who is also a volunteer teacher at the Maame Krobo Community Senior High School, said the project I would be done in stages at a cost about GH¢4 million.

“For now, we want to concentrate on the ground floor which will cost about GH¢1 million, but for what we have done, if we get about GH¢500,000 it will take us far,” he said.

When the Daily Graphic visited the work site near the Maame Krobo Police Station, workers were busily digging trenches on the one acre –plot of land.

Blocks, heaps of sand and stones were also on the land, indicating that work on the project was moving steadily.

“This project is financed by donor support and, therefore, as and when funds come in, work continues. However, by next academic year, we must build to accommodate the children who will be moving to Primary Three,” he said.

Quality education

Rev. Fr. Sakpaku said he decided to put up the school to provide quality education in the community and other deprived areas.

According to him, most of the schools in the community and other areas in the district were not up to standards, a situation which is having a negative effect on the development of the children.

He said such development meant that children went through basic education and even secondary education without having basic knowledge of the English Language.

“Our local languages are good and must be taught to our children. However, in order for them to compete, they must grasp the English Language to aid in their development,” he said.

He said the Saint Joseph School ensured that English was the mode of teaching, adding, “there is deliberate attempt for them to understand and appreciate the English language”.

Writer’s email: emma.hawkson@graphic.com.gh