Schoolchildren in farming communities in the Kwahu Afram Plains have defied all odds to acquire quality education in Donkorkrom, the district capital of the Kwahu Afram Plains North.
Even though there are basic schools in the farming communities and some of the larger communities, some parents prefer their children schooling at Donkorkrom to the farming communities.
No teachers
Most of those schools in the farming communities do not have teachers. A whole school can boast of only one or two teachers. Initially, those who used to teach in such schools were volunteers, who were either junior high school or senior high school graduates, while others were the catechists in the communities. Thankfully, now the government is phasing out all pupil teachers or upgrading them through distance learning.
School structures
Aside that, some of the school structures are an apology of buildings fit for habitation – the roofs are made of palm fronds, while those with aluminium roofing have theirs ripped off. So, anytime the weather changes and there is the least sign of rainfall, classes normally come to an abrupt end to enable the children to get home before the rains.
During the dry season, schools close around 12 noon to avoid the negative effects of the scorching sun from dealing with them.
The school blocks do not have doors and windows and so, when the schoolchildren close for the day, animals such as goats, sheep and pigs take over the classrooms.
Sawuah D/A Primary
At the Sawuah D/A Primary School at Sawuah in the Kwahu Afram Plains North, apart from the fact that there are only two teachers and a head teacher manning classes One to Six, daily school activities are conducted under a tree.
The roof of the school building, which has become a death trap, had been ripped off since June last year leaving the children at the mercy of the weather.
Some parents have either withdrawn their children to help them on their farms or sent them to Donkorkrom to continue with their schooling there.
Communities with poor infrastructure
Similarly, at Koranteng-Krachi, the only school there which is up to Class Six is currently without a roof as the roof of the building was ripped off in 2014 and is yet to be re-roofed.
At Kodidi for instance, there is no JHS and so after class Six, the pupils move to another place for the JHS, while at Apemsu there are only two teachers handling the whole school.
The story was not different at Wenamda, Apesika, Tayira, Fodua, Apemsu, Ntoabomah, Amankwah, Awuah and Kofi Nyinah, where the children have moved to Donkorkrom to pursue quality education.
Search for quality education
So in search of quality education, some of such children walk long distances from the farming communities on a daily basis to the capital town of the district to attend school.
However, there are those whose parents are capable of renting rooms for them in the towns to enable them to attend schools there and return to the villages every Friday to spend the weekend.
So, it is a very common phenomenon, every Friday after classes to see schoolchildren in groups walking to the farming communities from Donkorkrom where they attend school.
The basic truth remains that in almost all the farming communities, the highest level of education is Primary Six. So, for the children to continue with their education, they have to move to Donkorkrom which is one of the biggest towns in the plains.
Poor performance in rural schools
Even though there are JHS in some nearby communities such as Kwaekese, Hyemanhyia, Kyemfere and Amankwah, schoolchildren move from there to Donkorkrom to attend school because pupils in the JHSs in their communities do not perform well in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
On Sundays, the schoolchildren trek back to Donkorkrom carrying enough food items, mostly yam, groundnuts and beans, to keep them until the weekend.
Role of parish priest
To help the schoolchildren from the villages back to Donkorkrom, the Parish Priest of the St Theresa’s Catholic Church at Hyemanhyia in the Afram Plains South District, Rev. Fr Stephen Sakpaku, has taken it upon himself to help transport the children in the out-stations in his parish, especially on Sundays to Donkorkrom, where they stay and school.
He believes that his action is purely an act of humanitarian service and “a show of compassion with common sense.”
But Rev. Fr Sakpaku is worried that renting rooms for little children to stay on their own in a town is not the best. He explained that in a situation such as that, the children lacked guidance, direction and were prone to negative influence.
Schoolchildren speak
Some of the pupils explained that even though there were schools in the farming communities where their parents resided, there were no teachers not to talk of qualified ones to handle the classes.
Some also explained that in their communities, the schools ended at class Three, while others ended at class Six.
According to Master Jeremiah Bongangmwin, a JHS One pupil of Kofi Yeboah Basic School, he had to move to Donkorkrom for his JHS education because at Koranteng-Krachi, where his parents are, the school ended at Class Six.
Schools in Donkorkrom
The schools the pupils attend in Donkorkrom are the St Michael R/C, which has the highest number of pupils, the Atakora Basic School, the Nana Badu Basic School and the Kofi Yeboah Basic School.
Out of 120 pupils the Daily Graphic spoke to, 50 of them stay in Donkorkrom on their own. Others who are between 12 and 16 years stay in Donkorkrom with their younger siblings. They prepare their own food.
Rev. Fr Sakpaku said some of those children were seen at Donkorkrom in the evenings loitering about because they lacked guidance.
By: Graphic Online