5,000 new blocks needed to eliminate basic schools under trees

The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, has disclosed that the government needs to build an additional 5,000 additional school blocks to achieve parity in the provision of educational infrastructure for basic education in the country.

Speaking on The Big Issue on Citi TV and Citi FM, the education advocate said the lack of infrastructure is encouraging parents to take their children to the farm instead of sending them to school. He further stated that the government is doing too little to resolve this challenge.

“We need about 5,000 junior high schools to achieve parity and the government is not doing this. According to the government, there are 5,400 schools under trees and dilapidated structures and when you have such a situation, obviously, it tells you that parents will not be encouraged to send their children to such schools and it was confirmed in Nkwanta South that parents prefer to take their children to farm than to take them to school where they will go and sit under trees.”

Mr. Asare also slammed the government for reneging on its own programme to build over 5,000 schools to eliminate schools under trees over a five-year span which it has built only 20 in the past two years.

“We are nearing three years since the government announced a programme to eliminate all schools under trees by constructing additional schools and the government requires GH¢3.6 billion to achieve this feat and we all supported the government. We have gone past year two and the last time I checked, less than 20 of the schools have been built when per the plan the government is required to build 1001 per year.”

“It is realistic to build these schools because the cost of building these schools is about GH¢700 and this is about only half of what the government spends on only feeding on the Free SHS policy,” Mr Asare added.