By Benjamin Makafui Attipoe, Mafi Kumikpo
Pencils of Promise (POP), an educational Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Ghana in collaboration with the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Central Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, as well as the chiefs and people of Mafi Kumikpo and Mafi Dekpoe, have performed a grounds-breaking ceremony for the construction of a three-unit classroom block with ancillary facilities for the Kindergarten Unit of the Mafi Kumikpo R.C. Basic School.
The school, which serves the two twin-communities of Mafi Kumikpo and Mafi Dekpoe, has an enrolment of more than five hundred (500) pupils who have been struggling for several years to study in a highly deplorable classroom infrastructure.
While the Junior High School (JHS) pupils squeeze themselves in a small store and office compartment of the school, the two (2) mishit structures for the Kindergarten (KG) and Primary School pupils house the rest of the school children from the KG to P6. In effect, apart from the fact that the two classes are combined in one classroom, the learners are also squeezed in the few desks available and in partitioned classrooms which negatively affect effective teaching and learning.
It is against this backdrop that the Central Tongu lawmaker, Alexander Gabby Hottordze sought the support of the educational NGO to address the acute infrastructural challenges facing the pupils of the two sister communities.
Per the policies of POP, the NGO would provide eighty (80) percent of the funds in all major material supplies and artisans’ deployment while the community takes care of communal labour and the provision of sand and chippings for the execution of the project.
As part of the support to the communities, the MP pledged to take up the material cost of the two communities in providing ten (10) out of the nineteen (19) trips of sand and the six (6) trips of chippings needed for the project, all valued at almost Fifty Thousand Ghana Cedis (Ghc50, 000.00).
Speaking at the grounds breaking ceremony, the Country Director of POP, Mr Freeman Gobah, disclosed that since the commencement of work in the country in the past twelve (12) years, POP has initiate and built 206 classroom units across 24 districts of the country in Volta, Oti and the Eastern Regions.
According to him, more than one thousand (1,000) teachers have also been supported and trained in pedagogies apart from the provision of urinals and other sanitation facilities in basic schools under its Water, Sanitation and School Hygiene (WASH) project.
Mr Gobah, said the project is being made possible through a donor as has always been the case, adding that it is the expectation of POP that the project would be executed within the next three to five months.
The MP for the area, Alexander Gabby Hottrordze, said he has been supporting communities in his constituency when it comes to the provision of classroom infrastructure by NGOs such as the POP. According to him, POP has so far built similar educational blocks with his support in communities such as Mafi Atitekpo, Mafi Amukpo, Bakpa Kpokope, Mafi Mediage and Mafi Agorve.
Mr Hottordze, assured the management of POP and the beneficiary communities of his commitment to deliver on time, the six (6) trips of chippings and the ten (10) trips of sand promised on behalf of the two communities for the project. He was grateful to POP for the gesture and also thanked the chiefs and people of the two communities for their hard work, support and encouragement over the years.
The Deputy Director in-charge of the Human Resource and Management Division (HRMD) of the Central Tongu District Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Stephen Hanson Awuku Ameworlor, represented the District Director of Education (DDE) at the function.
He described the support and work of POP as very encouraging and impressive, adding that he was glad to be part of another effort to remove more schools from under trees in the district.
Earlier in his welcome address and report on the school, the Headteacher of the school, Sampson Akpo, described the current deplorable school structure of the learners as a death trap. He pointed out that despite these difficult conditions, the learners of the school have remained resilient and teachers have continued to serve with dedication. ‘They have worked tirelessly, often under harsh conditions, to ensure that learning never stops’, Mr Akpo emphasized.
The Head teacher used the opportunity to appeal to POP, government agencies, corporate organizations and all well-meaning individuals to further support the school with eight (8) units of classrooms to fully address their classroom infrastructural problems.
The Dufia of Mafi Kumikpo and Awafia of the community, Togbe Agbozo Daku III, who chaired the function, described the ground-breaking event as a long dream come true.
He lauded the efforts and support of the MP and POP in the educational space of the district and stressed the need for the citizens of the two communities to effectively, actively and efficiently support the project with the expected communal labour in order to realize the construction of the school block for the pupils.
The event was witnessed by a large number of community members, some dignitaries from far and near as well as some traditional leaders including Mamaga Avadzorgbe Nukunu I of Mafi Dekpoe.