Jirapa: An intervention by the Millennium Child Support Group (MCSG) has salvaged the pupils of the Kanee M/A Basic School in the Jirapa Municipality from the ordeal they go through to access clean water while in school. That was because the school had no source of potable drinking water compelling the children to either carry water from their homes to school or return home to drink water during class hours.
According to Ghana News Agency, the situation significantly affected the children's education as some of them did not return to school while others had to endure the thirst throughout their stay in school. However, the MCSG had commissioned a newly constructed handheld borehole at the school to save the children from that ordeal. The borehole was a supplementary intervention by the organisation under a school feeding project it was implementing in that school funded by the ECOWAS Commission through its Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF), and the Spanish Cooperation.
Speaking at the commissioning of the facility, Mr. Godfrey Ato Parker, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Millennium Child Support Group, said it was a milestone in their shared commitment to improve access to clean water, quality education, and wellbeing of people, especially children. He indicated that the intervention symbolised the unwavering commitment of the partners to child development and sustainable infrastructure, which continued to transform lives across the sub-region. Mr. Parker said his organisation realised the need for a borehole for the school when they could not get clean water to drink during a baseline survey at that community.
He expressed optimism that the borehole would improve school attendance and punctuality, especially among girls, and reduce waterborne diseases among the children. "We believe that this borehole will bring back many children who have absented themselves from school for long and prevent absenteeism among children, especially girls. We believe this will improve sanitation and hygiene in the school," he explained.
Mr. Martin Yiripare, a representative from the Jirapa Municipal Education Directorate, expressed gratitude to the MCSG for the borehole and school feeding project in the Kanee M/A Basic School. He, however, appealed to the organisation and its partners as well as the Jirapa Municipal Assembly to construct a befitting classroom infrastructure for the school to complement the school feeding project.
Some members of the Kanee community expressed happiness about the intervention and gave the assurance that the community would maintain it to serve its intended purpose. Naa Dinaa Donglabong Ganaa III, the Paramount Chief of the Jirapa Traditional Area, and Mr. Peter Tu-Ang, the Jirapa Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) among other stakeholders witnessed the borehole commissioning.
