‘Let communities own and manage public schools’
The Executive Chairman of Wisewater Foundation, Mr Emmnauel Amarquaye, has proposed that public schools in the country be community-owned and managed.
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He said the government must leave the management of schools to the communities so that teachers and parents could be depended upon to do a good job.
“Whether we like it or not, that is exactly what is happening now as most schools are managed by the parent-teacher welfare associations,” he said.
The donation
Mr Amarquaye made the proposal when the foundation presented 20 mono-desks to the Nima Cluster of Schools in Accra.
The donation, worth GH¢3,000, was funded by the IFC Financial Services Limited.
The effort, which forms part of the corporate social responsibility of both organisations, was to support the school to provide quality education to its students.
Lack of amenities
Mr Amarquaye lamented inadequacies of the educational system in the country.
“For how long can we continue to say we are providing education when the basic tools to facilitate teaching and learning are non-existent? There are no adequate furniture for schools and students, no textbooks and even no chalk to write,” he said.
He asked the students to take their lessons seriously in order to be able to achieve their dreams, saying, “The difference between the public schools and the private is the noise levels. Be serious. No more jokes because the time is not waiting for you”.
Corporate responsibility
The Chief Executive Officer of IFS Financial Services, Mr Kojo Ohene-Kyei, said its management believed in contributing to the transformation of the lives of people in the communities in which they lived and worked.
He said the company’s social interventions included the delivery of potable water, various health delivery support funds, and educational and religious programmes.
He lauded the initiative of Wisewater Foundation as it perfectly fitted in the company’s commitment to grow people.
“We have chosen the Nima Cluster of Schools because you are our neighbours, and that is in line with our commitment to developing people and communities towards an overall improvement in living standards,” he said.
We need help
Receiving the items, the Officer-In-Charge of Ayawaso East Education Sub-Metro, Mrs Mary Naa-Adoley Dodoo, lauded the two organisations for their support.
She said for some time now, the school had to put more than 70 students in one classroom because there were not enough desks for them to sit on.
“We have two empty classrooms but we do not have desks for the students to sit on so have packed them in one classroom and this is very bad,” she said.
Mrs Naa-Adoley Dodoo also called on individuals and other organisations to come to the aid of the school.