Sebastian R. Freiku
31 May 2011
Kraft Canada, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), in conjunction with Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, has presented 35 bicycles to pupils of the Nsiana D/A Primary School in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region, to encourage the pupils to go to school.
It is part of a package under which 350 bicycles would be presented to pupils in cocoa growing areas who walk long distances to school across the country.
The Programme Manager of Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, Mr. Benjamin Yaw Manu, said the vision of the NGO was to support pupils in cocoa growing areas to attend school under stress-free conditions.
He was worried that even though cocoa farmers contribute a lot to national development, their wards go through a lot of challenges to access education, and hoped that the distribution of the bicycles would boost school enrollment, as the pupils will have no excuse for not going to school.
Nsiana is a farming community in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region, which is endowed with natural resources, including gold, timber and cocoa, yet the living conditions of people in this district is nothing to write home about.
The Nsiana community lacks basic amenities such as electricity, good roads, potable drinking water and a health centre. The nearest school, accessible to the community, is four kilometres away, meaning pupils who desire to have basic education, have to trek on foot to and fro every day.
Parents who can afford to pay for transportation of their wards also spend GH ¢1 every day.
Some of the pupils of the Nsiana D/A Primary School, who shared their experiences, said they walk and get to school late, for which their teachers, without any consideration, cane them.
They also said sometimes they get to school tired, so they doze off while classes are in session.
The District Director of Education for Amansie West, Mr. Samuel Benneh, reported that in spite of the challenges facing pupils in the district, the district has been recording good grades in the Basic Entrance Certificate Examinations (BECE).
According to him, the district placed 7th on the National BECE ratings, and 5th on the regional ratings three years ago, and that even though some examination papers were canceled last year due to examination malpractices, the district recorded 56 percent passes.
He noted that if the district was given the needed attention, in terms of infrastructure to support education, the district would be producing some of the country’s best future leaders.
The Education Director appealed for the extension of electricity to some communities, because the lack of it makes learning in the evenings difficult.
Another challenge facing the district, according to Director Benneh, and which is adversely affecting the pupils, besides trekking long distances to school, is the activities of illegal miners (galamsey) in the district.
He explained that most pupils prefer to engage in the galamsey activities for money, instead of walking long distances to and from school every day.
As a result, the District Assembly, in conjunction with the District Education Directorate and the traditional authorities, is instituting a bye-law to arrest pupils would be found loitering about during school hours.
Also, the parents of these pupils would either be fined, or made to serve a jail term, Mr. Benneh disclosed.
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