By
Philip Tengzu, GNA
Paala, (UW/R), Feb.
25, GNA – Girls in the Paala community in the Wa West District of the Upper
West Region have resorted to early marriages due to their inability to access
schools in their locality.
The girls have to
commute long distances to other communities to attend basic school, which posed
a challenge to many of the girls who chose to marry early, some at tender ages.
A resident of Paala
told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that because there was no
school in the community, young girls were marrying at early age; one married at
age 17 and another married at age 15, while many of them were also dropping out
of schools.
Madam Seonkomo
Nyigna, said the situation was a source of worry to parents, especially mothers
whose children were lacking behind in education.
Paala, a remote
predominantly farming community with a population of more than five hundred,
had been bedeviled with numerous challenges including inadequate source of
potable water, poor access to health care and lack of roads.
Madam Martha
Seonkomo, another resident of the community, indicated that children of school
going age sat idle at home because there was no school in the community.
She said the
children in the community attended school at the Bienye community, which was
several kilometers away from Paala.
“There are many
children who are not going to school because they cannot walk to the community
where the school is located. They pass two communities before they get to the
school,” Madam Seonkomo explained.
“Children, who had
the courage to start school, had all dropped out along the line due to the
distance from the community to the school.
“Our children and
siblings want to go to school but they can’t go because the school is not close
to the community,” she said.
The residents gave
the assurance that they were ready to provide land and labour to build a school
for the community, and appealed to the government, benevolent individuals and
Non-governmental Organizations to support them with building materials such as
cement and roofing sheets.
Mr Badia Zimbe
Yussif, the Assembly Member for the area, indicated that improving education
was one of his priorities and said he would lobby for a school for the
community.
He observed that the
challenge in accessing education at Paala was compounded by the lack of road
network, which cuts off the community from other communities during the rainy
season.
Meanwhile, the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Four (4) enjoins member states
signatory to those goals to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education
and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030.
GNA