We lost three weeks of academic calendar – North Tongu DCE bemoans
“Although schools have reopened but our classrooms are still used as safe havens, and St. Kizito for example is not in use and the students are sitting at home,”
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for North Tongu, Mr Osbourne Fenu, has called for stakeholder support to restore academic progress in the district, particularly in areas affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage.
While briefing the Resident Representative of ECOWAS in Ghana during the presentation of some relief items, the DCE said various challenges that came with the crisis included the disruption of the academic calendar and it must be addressed to save education in the area.
He said school had been disrupted for hundreds of students and pupils in the affected communities as classrooms and other structures have been turned into temporary shelters for the displaced and feared it could affect education outcomes in the district.
“Although schools have reopened but our classrooms are still used as safe havens, and St. Kizito for example is not in use and the students are sitting at home,” he said.
Mr Fenu said this had been a huge impediment therefore the authorities were looking for a place for the displaced people, so that children could go back to school.
He however told the diplomat that plans for people to return to their homes awaited structural reports from the relevant agencies.
He said one relocation housing project was ongoing by some corporate organisations, and appealed for more such initiatives.
Baba Gaba Wakil, Resident Representative of the Commission presented a truckload of items worth GHC 120,000, and said it was a “modest presentation.”
The donation included food and other items such as books for school children.
The diplomat commended the Government and key bodies including the VRA for their response to the flood situation and said the Commission would deliver a standard response to upon the conclusion of necessary reports.
More than 40,000 people have been displaced in the floods which affected nine districts, and that government has earmarked an amount of 220 million to support victims.
Although floods have receded, many are unable to return to their homes and continue to seek refuge in schools designated as safe havens.
