Sagnarigu Municipal Education Directorate appeals for support

The Sagnarigu Municipal Directorate of Education has appealed for support to address the myriad of challenges facing education in the municipality.

One of the major challenges confronting education, the directorate indicated, is the lack of office space, which has been hindering its operation.

Speaking at the 2023/2024 education review, the Municipal Education Training Officer, Andani Zakaria Abdulai, indicated that the directorate was currently operating from abandoned offices at the Tamale Senior High School, a situation that had persisted since the municipality’s inception in 2012.

"The lack of office space has made it difficult for us to work effectively. We are forced to share a few offices, which impacts our operations. If the school ever needs the building back, we would have nowhere to go,” he lamented.

The meeting brought together stakeholders in the education sector to deliberate on how to improve education outcomes in the municipality, as well as develop an Annual Municipal Education Operation Plan (ADEOP).

It formed part of the Strengthening Accountability in Ghana’s Education System (SAGES) project being implemented by School for Life and funded by USAID through CARE Ghana.

The objective of the SAGES project is to strengthen the enabling environment for education accountability and improve the performance of the education system.

Furniture deficit

Mr Abdulai added that the municipality was facing a furniture deficit of about 17,000 and that the situation had forced most school children to study on the bare floor.
Beyond that, he said “most of the schools' structures are dilapidated, with poor ventilation, which is seriously affecting teaching and learning.

He said though the municipal assembly was doing its best to rescue the situation, more support was needed to help address the challenge.

The Head of Programmes at School for Life, Ayuba Abukari, reiterated his outfit's commitment towards continuous collaboration with the assembly and the GES to improve learning outcomes.

The Coordinating Director of the Sagnarigu Municipal Assembly, Mahmud Osman, acknowledged the challenges facing education in the municipality and assured that the assembly would incorporate some of the challenges in its 2025 development plan.