The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the Ga East Municipal Assembly (GEMA), Hon. John Kwao Sackey, has charged Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and School Management Committees (SMCs) of the public schools in the municipality to observe culture of maintenance to ensure the longevity of educational infrastructure and facilities.
The MCE made this appeal when he presented 2,500 dual desks for pupils to the educational directorate for onward distribution.
The dual desks, procured with funding from the Ghana Educational Trust Fund (GETFund), were presented to the education directorate for onward distribution to 33 public basic schools within the municipality.
Presenting the 1,400 pieces already assembled on the premises of the Assembly’s main office, the Hon. Kwao Sackey expressed gratitude to the GETFund for the support to enhance the quality of education in the municipality.
He said they arrived at the total figure of 2,500 following his directive to the education directorate to investigate and report on the challenges faced by the schools with respect to furniture.
He assured the directorate of a speedy work on the assembling of the remaining desks to enable them to distribute to the intended beneficiary schools.
The GEMA Boss also disclosed that arrangements were being made to procure furniture for the Nursery and Kindergarten (KG) schools which have been identified to lack the facility.
Hon. Kwao Sackey used the opportunity to appeal to the PTAs and SMCs of the various public schools in the municipality to make culture of maintenance a part of their core activities to safeguard educational infrastructure and facilities.
“I will urge you (education directorate) to impress upon the teachers and pupils and the PTAs to take good care of the furniture. Do not wait till the chairs break down before you maintain them but always observe their appearance and let the PTAs help you maintain them”.
He cautioned against the improper release of classrooms for use by churches as their activities contribute to the breakdown of the furniture in the schools.
“Avoid releasing the classrooms for church services because on Sundays and Saturdays you see the churches pulling all the chairs out of the classrooms and the way they handle their plastic chairs for worship is not the same way they handle the school children’s desks and this is costing the Ghana government a lot of money”.
To this effect, the MCE ordered the education directorate to undertake an audit exercise to generate a data on all the churches operating in the various schools to “ensure that we programme how to protect the school properties”.
Receiving the desks on behalf of the Municipal Director of Education, a Deputy Director in charge of Human Resource, Mrs. Agnes Asamoa, expressed appreciation for the gesture by the Assembly and the GETFund and promised her outfit will ensure the proper use and handling of the desks.
She also said they will work to address the concerns raised by the MCE to encourage the Assembly to provide more of such facilities to enhance teaching and learning in the schools.
The presentation was witnessed by Municipal Coordinating Director (MCD), Mr. Martin Dassah, the Municipal Finance Officer (MFO), Mr. Francis Adu-Marfo, the Procurement Officer, Mr. Jajah Rasheed, and Municipal Budget Officer, Mr. Noah Tali.
The rest included Assistant Development Planning Officer Mr. Alex Amoah, and the Public Relations Officers for the Assembly and Education Directorate, Okunyin Boaz Orlan-Hackman and Mr. Seth Anyormi respectively among other officers.
End.
By: Okunyin Boaz Orlan-Hackman
gemanews 