Two new three-unit Junior High School (JHS) blocks have been commissioned in Mantukwa and Atababo in Ghana’s Ellembelle District, improving access to education for children in two rural communities.
The projects, financed through the District Assemblies Common Fund and the Ellembelle District Assembly’s Internally Generated Funds (IGF), are intended to provide safer and more suitable places for pupils to learn.
At Mantukwa, pupils at Mantukwa D/A JHS had been taught in a Church of Pentecost building because the community did not have a dedicated JHS facility. Limited space also meant Form Three pupils had to use a classroom at the nearby primary school.
Aishatu Karim, a Form Three pupil, said the poor facilities had made teaching and learning more difficult in the community.
The situation at Atababo was more severe, with JHS lessons taking place in a mud structure. Some pupils were also required to walk more than four kilometres to attend JHS in a neighbouring village.
The new Atababo block includes toilet facilities, while a similar three-unit building has been completed at Mantukwa. The facilities are expected to reduce the distance children travel and end the use of unsuitable buildings for lessons.
Ellembelle MP and Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah said the projects formed part of a wider effort to expand access to quality education and narrow the gap between rural and urban communities.
He said locating JHS education closer to children in communities such as Atababo would give them a fairer chance of competing with pupils in towns and cities.
“For communities like Atababo, where children have been walking for more than four kilometres before they get to JHS, this is complete transformation. This is resetting Ghana and levelling the playing field for children in rural areas to close that inequality gap in education.”
Mr Buah said better school infrastructure could also help more children from rural areas progress to higher education.
“It will translate into children in these villages competing meaningfully with children in the cities. So when you go to the universities, you’re not only going to see the privileged few there; you’ll see Atababo children also in the university.”
He added that more than seven classroom blocks and three Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds had been delivered in the district during the first year as part of efforts to address critical infrastructure needs.
Ellembelle District Chief Executive Joseph Agyekum said residents must help protect and maintain the new buildings.
“As a government, we’ve done our part. We’ve handed over the school to the community, so the responsibility of maintenance now lies on the community to make sure they maintain the school that we’ve just given to them.”
Mr Agyekum said the Assembly had built 12 schools in less than two years, with other projects still under construction. He said the Mantukwa block was funded through the District Assemblies Common Fund, while the Atababo facility was paid for with the Assembly’s internally generated funds.
For pupils and residents, the developments mark the end of lessons in a church and a mud structure, while laying a stronger educational foundation for children in Mantukwa, Atababo and nearby rural communities.
By Ebenezer Atiemo
