Sikor: A tiny, beautiful and commanding community
SIKOR is a serenely beautiful tiny community near Aveyime in the North Tongu District in the Volta Region, with a population of just over 200.
The beauty of Sikor is seen largely in the numerous dense green trees surrounding the houses and the protection they provide against the sun.
No one goes hungry in Sikor because the people grow what they eat and eat what they grow.
In spite of its smallness, Sikor has produced men and women of substance for the nation over the years.
Medical doctors, lawyers, teachers, army officers, architects, civil and public servants, accountants and university lecturers have emerged from Sikor, where there is no crime.
There are more citizens of Sikor living in other parts of the country and the world than in the community.
This is because the people have always attached great importance to education and ensured their children attended school with utmost seriousness.
It was, therefore, a case for celebration in the community on Saturday, June 28, when a new three-classroom block with an office and a computer laboratory was commissioned to replace a dilapidated structure of the local District Assembly Junior High School.
The USD 30,000 project was funded jointly by a Ghanaian non-governmental organisation, Amazing Smiles Foundation, and the Adovor family of the enclave.
The sponsors also included former pupils of the school which was established in 1952, starting with 16 children.
At a mini-durbar to commission the block, the District Chief Executive, Victoria Amefadzi Yawa Doe, described the facility as another significant turning point in the history of Sikor.
She paid tribute to the foundation and the other sponsors of the project, which she said, would relieve Sikor and the school of the recent havoc caused by the spilled water from the Akosombo Dam.
“It is rare for citizens living outside the community to initiate projects like this for their hometowns, and I am thrilled to see this happen,” the DCE added.
She entreated the pupils to study diligently towards a better future.
The headteacher of the Sikor D.A. Basic School, Lawrence Kumah, said the school had been ranking first in the Aveyime Circuit, in respect of performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) since 2020.
That had attracted children from the nearby communities to the school, which now had an enrolment of 195, he said.
Mr Kumah said there was, however, a serious challenge of teacher deficit facing the school.
“We have only four professional teachers and one volunteer who finished his national service and decided to stay and assist the few hard-working teachers and the learners,” he revealed.
The headteacher also appealed for a good access road for the school and accommodation for the teachers.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Foundation, Millicent Kumasenu, said despite its sterling legacy, the school had seen little investment and expansion of infrastructure over the years, prompting the foundation to step in with the project.
She said the school was still in need of desks, chairs, whiteboards, markers, sporting jerseys, exercise books, textbooks, food supplies and disinfectants, and as such appealed to the government, philanthropic organisations and public-spirited individuals to come to the aid of the school.
The CEO of the foundation also appealed to the Ghana Education Service to post more teachers to the school.
