The absence of the school feeding programme in the Gbee KG/Primary Basic School in the Talensi District in the Upper East Region is negatively affecting the enrolment of school pupils.
Although the school hitherto had a population of about 250 pupils, it has drastically reduced to 133 as many of the pupils have left to nearby schools which are beneficiaries of the school feeding programme.
The continuous exodus of the pupils is a threat to the survival of the only school in the community which also attracts pupils from nearby communities such as Kpatia, Kpale and Zanlerigu.
According to staff of the school, despite several appeals to authorities for the school to be added to the list of schools benefiting from the school feeding programme to immediately address the dwindling population of the pupils,it has not as yet received the needed attention.
History
The school was initially a Childhood Development Centre constructed in 2015 for the community by Actionaid, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), with volunteers to take care of the children daily who are picked up later in the day by their parents.
Nonetheless, when the government took over, it was unable to continue feeding the pupils as it was previously done by the NGO which introduced feeding in the school.
Sensing danger to the survival of the school, members of the community resolved to contribute food items to cook one square meal for the schoolchildren to attract them to school every day.
However, due to the high level of poverty and harsh economic conditions, the community members were unable to sustain the feeding of the school pupils, a development which led to the exodus of the pupils to other schools benefiting from the school feeding.
Many of the pupils also run home at break time to eat since they attend school on an empty stomach and some of them sometimes do not return to school.
Inadequate classrooms
The school, which currently has pupils from Kindergarten One to Primary Six, are being accommodated in the only two-unit classroom block provided by Actionaid.
As a result, the Kindergarten One and Two pupils have been put together in one classroom, classes Five and Six have been put in another classroom, while classes Three and Four and classes One and Two study in cubicles originally meant to be a storeroom and a head teacher’s office.
The combination of the classes is a great source of worry to the teachers and the pupils, as it has made teaching and learning very difficult.
Aside the inadequate classrooms, the school does not have the needed furniture, compelling some of the pupils to either squat or lie on the floor to take part in academic work.
Source: Graphiconline
