ActionAid supports 4 Bono deprived schools with furniture

CTIONAID Ghana (AAG) has presented 260 dual and mono desks to four deprived schools in the Tain and Banda districts in the Bono Region at the cost of GH¢100,000.

The beneficiary schools are Hiamankyene Primary and Junior High School, Wiasekrom Basic School and Bepoase Basic School in the Tain District and Bofie Basic School in the Banda District.

Sponsored by Italian donors, the three schools in Tain received a total of 190 dual and mono desks, while Bofie Basic School had 70 desks.

Sitting on floor

At the presentation last Thursday at Nsawkaw in the Tain District, the Bono Regional Programme Officer of the AAG, Kwame Afram Denkyira, explained that during ActionAid’s monitoring visits to the schools to engage them as part of the child sponsorship activities, they realised some of the schoolchildren were sitting on bare floor and others were lying on their stomach to undertake academic activities.

 Part of the furniture

"We entered some of the classrooms and what we saw was not good for us. Some of the schoolchildren were sitting on the floor while others were lying on their stomachs to write," he said.

Mr Denkyira, who is also in charge of Bono East and Ahafo regions, said at Bepoase Basic School many of the schoolchildren were using kitchen stools and plastic chairs carried from home.

"However, those whose parents could not afford to get them those chairs were also seen lying on the floor to take their studies. Their uniforms, books and other learning materials were very dirty," he explained.

Mr Denkyira said the organisation then decided to support them with the furniture to improve their bad condition in order to promote teaching and learning.

Deficit

The Country Director of ActionAid, John Nkaw, said the donation was made to reduce the huge furniture deficit and promote teaching and learning in the areas.

"As quality and inclusive education advocates, we are proud to support four selected Basic Schools, three in Tain and one in Banda with a total of 260 pieces of child-friendly furniture to augment the furniture deficits and facilitate teaching and learning in these selected schools," he said.

Mr Nkaw said in 2023, ActionAid constructed two fully furnished model Kindergarten blocks at Bepoayase and Yabraso to support education in the farming communities.

He said ActionAid had implemented several interventions in Tain and Banda to improve learning outcomes for pupils and students at the Basic and Senior High School levels respectively.

"This support by AAG is a testament to our commitment to enhancing quality and inclusive education," he said.

Mr Nkaw called on the beneficiary schools to prioritise the maintenance of the furniture to ensure that the future generation benefitted from the investments. 

SDG

He said achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Four, which aimed at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning for everyone, required increased investment in education and international cooperation.

Mr Nkaw said quality education was vital for the nation's development.

He said the country had made significant advances through various policies such as the School Re-Entry Policy that ensured pregnant girls were retained in schools.

"We are happy to share that through AAG interventions in Complementary Basic Education (CBE) and School Re-entry Policy for Pregnant Girls, over 20,511 girls and boys across the country are enrolling or returning to school," he said.

Government

For his part, the Deputy Tain District Coordinating Director, Frederick Yirkyio, said henceforth the government had decided to stock newly constructed school blocks with furniture before officially handing over to schools in order to resolve the furniture deficit in schools.

"This is the way the government is thinking now. We do not want to hand over empty classrooms, but furnish them with furniture," he said.

Mr Yirkyio appealed to other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to support the assembly to provide quality education.

He urged the two district education directorates to ensure immediate distribution of the furniture to the beneficiary schools.

Mr Yirkyio said the delivery of the furniture would help motivate the school children to go and stay in school to learn.

He said the assembly played a key role in the provision of educational facilities, including teaching and learning materials at the district level.

"However, the assembly alone cannot satisfy all the educational needs and other challenges in the area," he said.

Mr Yirkyio said though the assembly was working hard, it was not easy to procure furniture for all the schools in the district.

He explained that the assembly was confronted with several challenges "and when we get institutions such as ActionAid supporting us, it's good news".

"When you come to Tain, you cannot talk about education without mentioning ActionAid", he stated, explaining that ActionAid was one of their development partners in the area.

He urged the beneficiary schools to apply a culture of maintenance in the usage of the furniture, adding that education played a critical role in the development of the country.

The beneficiary schools thanked ActionAid for the donation and pledged to ensure proper maintenance and usage of the furniture.

They explained that the presentation would help promote teaching and learning in the schools.

Writer's email: biiya.ali@graphic.com.gh