Pupils struggle to access JHS education at Eastern corridor
Access to basic education on the Eastern Corridor of the Northern Region remains a big challenge for some communities, resulting in children travelling long distances to schools.
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In communities such as Juo, Juasheyilli and Salnayilli all to the east of Bimbilla, the capital of the Nanumba North District, the only educational facilities avaliable are day care centres and primary schools.
To access Junior High School (JHS) education, some parents who can afford, provide their children with bicycles to ride to school in Bimbilla while others rent rooms in the town for their children to stay and attend the school.
The distance from Juo and Salnayilli to Bimbilla is 37 km and 80 km, respectively.
A visit by The Mirror in the company of other journalists to the area at the request of Songtaba and Action Aid, both non governmental organisations, revealed that many parents were interested in sending their children to school but the distance served as a barrier.
“Songtaba and Action Aid have made us to realise that there is no future for our children without education and we have also seen the need to send our children to school. But we do not have JHS here and after the children complete primary six, they have to continue the rest of their education at Bimbilla or elsewhere and that is a problem for many parents here,” lamented Arishetu Wumbei, a native of Juo.
She said parents who wanted their children to continue their education usually rented rooms for them at Bimbilla but stressed that the rent was too much for most of them to bear.
“In Bimbilla, a single room without light is GH¢30 a month and the one with light is GH¢40. Where can a poor farmer like me get over GH¢360 to pay as rent advance for my children to stay besides feeding, clothing and other expenses?”, she asked.
“Even if we can afford the accommodation, are these children not too young to live in a big town like Bimbilla alone?”, asked Ayisha Ibrahim, also a parent.
The Headteacher of Juo Primary School, Mr Issahaku Iddrisu, lauded Action Aid and Songtaba for promoting education in the area.
He said their sensitisation had aroused a lot of interest in education in the area “but the deprived nature of this area is making it difficult for many people to access education.”
He said his school currently had 493 pupils but the non availability of a JHS would let majority of them drop out of school.
He said Songtaba/Action Aid had provided the community with a six-unit classroom block with toilet and an office “and this is drawing children from nearby communities to come here and school.”
He, therefore, appealed for a JHS, adding “if children’s education in this community continues to end at the primary level, a time will come when the interest in education will wane among the residents.”
When contacted, the Nanumba North District Director of Education, Madam Alice Aniwe Nawuri, said her outfit had opened some new JHS, adding that some of them would surely be established at the eastern corridor to ease the burden on students.
By Marcelinus Dery / The Mirror / Ghana