Schools in Mepe in the North Tongu District, the worst affected community by the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong Dams, have resorted to studying under trees.
The pupils were grouped in two classes – lower and upper primary – and were been taught by volunteers with students at the junior high school level were left out as there was no class for them.
The makeshift classes were being held at the St Kizito Senior High School which has been closed down temporarily to serve as a safe haven for persons displaced by the floods.
Few meters away from the makeshift classrooms were families who went about their usual house chores.
All these came to light yesterday, when the top echelon of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), visited the area to measure the extent of disruption to education by the flood.
As part of visit, the Association donated GH¢150,000 to support relief efforts for affected teachers and their families.
General Secretary of the GNAT, Thomas Musah, told journalists that over 300 teachers across the affected areas had been displaced, 3,000 students forced out of the classrooms and 70 schools had been closed down as a result of the floods.
According to Mr Musah, the situation underscores the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) principle of education in emergency which Ghana must be considering going forward.
“There must be an immediate intervention (by government) to get the education of these children going as we wait for the situation to normalise and teaching and learning restored. We must be intentional about this. The teachers must be engaged,” he stated.
In his view, but for the benevolence of the volunteers, the children would have been engaged in child labour, teenage pregnancy and other forms of vices which retard the progress of children and “we will end up creating a class society.”
To ensure regular schooling returned to the Mepe Township, Mr Musah said government must, as a matter of urgency, provide accommodation and negotiate compensation for teachers who would be involved in the emergency education plan to keep them in the classroom.
He feared if the situation was not addressed immediately, JHS students, who were not part of the lessons under trees, especially the ones readying to write their BECE exams could be left behind; indicating that his outfit would engage the ministry for swift intervention.
Describing the situation as “sad”, the national president of the GNAT, Rev. Isaac Owusu said though their donation would not be enough to solve all the problems of the affected teachers, he was hopeful it could sort out some of the challenges they have found themselves in.
“We want to assure our teachers and students that we will continue to be with them, and whatever support we have to give would be made available to alleviate their light,” Rev. Owusu said.
One of the volunteers, Gertrude Nutsukpui, said she was motivated to embark on this adventure as she sees the pupils loiter about when they should have been in school.
FROM JULIUS YAO PETETSI, MEPE
