Ghana’s Schools of Shame: Sell your V8s and use the Money to buy Furniture for the Children – Concerned Ghanaian

A Concerned senior Ghanaian Citizen has expressed serious reservations about the way authorities in Ghana are handling affairs of the country, especially in the areas of the management of the country’s basic education management. Her concerns come in the wake of recent media publications revealing how some children and parts of the Volta and Northern regions had to lie on their stomachs and on the bare floor in the classroom to take their lessons, write exams, among other academic works.

Mrs Mary Tamakloe Botwe who has spent most of her working career in Europe believes a lot of things are wrong in the country and it boils down to leadership. She believes the irresponsibility of the political leadership in Ghana has reached a crescendo hence the citizens must rise and hold them accountable by waking them up.

“The government has money; there are several artisans who are making furniture by the roadside, so immediately this issue was identified, the government should have ordered for this furniture to be sent quickly into the classrooms before even considering where the money to pay for them would come from.

“And talking of money, there are several ways the government can get money to solve this furniture problems in the schools, one of them is taking off some of the allowances that the Ministers and MPs enjoy – they have allowances for cars, for petrol, for clothes, most of these Ministers too have more than two V8 Vehicles, even the President moves in an 18 vehicle convoy, all these can be reduced,” she stated.

She says the issue of lack of furniture in the classrooms as was identified in the news is that of an emergency and any serious government seeing this should have acted immediately.

It is her suggestion that the Education Minister, the Finance Minister and some or their colleagues must immediately sell at least each of their numerous V8 vehicles and use the money to purchase furniture and education materials for the schools so as to make education meaningful and for the children.

“The truth is that even in countries where these V8 cars are manufactured you don’t find government officials using them as much as we do here in Ghana. What is it with our obsession for big cars when innocent children don’t have chairs to sit on in classrooms,” she asked.

She says it is a shame that our leaders who are to help us develop are looking on while innocent children suffer this way

“I weep when I see such acts because it should not be happening in our country at this time. I think each of our leaders should be made to send two of their children to these rural schools and let’s see whether their children would survive this torcher. I weep always, it is not right.

She said the government must handle this as an emergency to give the children relief.

The opposition parties must join the government in discussing what is relevant, like what are the asserts that must be sold for this purpose.

“We cannot continue to be holding conferences to be discussing this, to what end. This issue must be tackled immediately. It is even a shame that the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who I admire so much, who is supposed to know better is looking to renovate a mosque for the people in that community instead of seeing to it that there is furniture in the school for the use of the children.

“This is not to say that renovating a mosque is bad, but the furniture issue is more important and all Ghanaians must rise and speak against it so the authorities can wake up. It is important.

By Jeorge Wilson Kingson || ghananewsonline.com.gh