Accra: Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, the Member of Parliament for the Wa East Constituency, has added his voice to appeals by the Dabillipuo community members for a befitting classroom block for school children in the community. He said though he had taken steps, including lobbying the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to build a school for the community, the situation needed urgent attention. He said that was because as schools were expected to reopen soon, the over 200 school children in the Dabillipuo community would be forced out of school in this raining season, which would affect their educational development.
According to Ghana News Agency, Dr. Jasaw said this in an interview in Wa in relation to the concerns of the community members regarding the poor state of the classroom structure in that community. Recognising the importance of education for personal and community development, the Dabillipuo Basic School started as a community initiative in 2007 with grass tents as classrooms and Senior High School graduates as teachers. The community members contributed to pay those volunteer teachers monthly in efforts to bring early childhood education closer to the children until the government took over in 2011 and posted teachers to the school.
They subsequently contributed and constructed a mud structure to serve as classrooms, which attracted children from nearby communities, who would have otherwise not been in school due to long distance from their communities to the nearest school at Kpaglahi. The school currently had a population of over 200 learners from Kindergarten to Basic five, with five teachers but lacked befitting classrooms to enhance teaching and learning.
The GNA's visit to the school revealed that parts of the roof were tattered, some roofing boards hanging in the classrooms, stagnant water in some of the classrooms and visibly cracked and fallen walls. 'It is one of the communities I have earmarked and written already to GETFund to support me to provide school building for them. I am following up with the GETFund, I am yet to get approval', Dr. Jasaw explained. Dr. Jasaw said he was passionate about children's education since it was the foundation of development and expressed hope that if the Dabillipuo school infrastructure was improved, many children in the area would enrol and be educated.
Mr Adamu Sayibu, the Wa East District Chief Executive (DCE), acknowledged the dire need for a new classroom block for Dabillipuo Basic School, saying, 'It is a priority project to me'. He said it was part of the Assembly's plans to build a new classroom block for that school, but indicated that the Assembly was financially constrained in that regard. Mr Sayibu told the GNA that they were scouting for funds to build that school and appealed to the benevolent community for support to build a befitting classroom block for that community.
