By Prince Acquah
Ajumako (C/R), Dec 28, GNA – Residents of Ajumako Ochiso in the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam (AEE) District of the Central Region, have initiated a project to assist the community to get an ultra-modern one-storey 10-unit classroom block with ancillary facilities for the Ochiso Methodist Basic School.
The project will replace the school’s old and dilapidated structures and provide a conducive environment for academic activities to improve access to quality education.
The community also seeks to build a befitting modern community centre for their social gatherings.
The Ochisoman Development Association (ODA), initiators of the projects, therefore, held a homecoming fundraising durbar as part of a campaign to pool resources for the projects.
With support from chiefs, old students, churches and indigenes home and abroad, the association raised a total of GHS125,000 out of a projected GHS200,000 as seed money to commence the projects.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, who graced the event, contributed GHS5,000 and pledged to provide 500 bags of cement for the construction of the facilities.
The proposed plans for the two projects were also unveiled at the event.
The school is the former Ochiso Amalgamated Middle School, a combination of Methodist and Catholic missionary schools as well as its basic school which are the oldest in the town and the second in the district, had served many communities over the decades.
The main structure of the school is, however, at the verge of collapse, forcing authorities to put it under lock and key.
Consequently, the school risks losing its status as a Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) centre.
Pupils and students, numbering over 540, are now having to compete for space in the remaining structures which are inadequate for their numbers.
When completed, the classroom block will have offices, an assembly hall, toilet facilities and a computer laboratory to maximise academic outcomes.
Mr Charles Kojo Amoah Snr, Interim Chairman of ODA, indicated that the two-year project would commence in the first quarter of 2023.
He said the initiative had come at the right time to meet the high demand for quality education globally.
“Human development is key and so with our initiative, we can groom young ones to become engineers, doctors, pilots and so on,” he stated.
“A lot of us came to this school and the teaching was good. Because of that, we ended up in secondary schools or training colleges and now some are professors and doctors,” he recalled.
He said they were also considering the construction of a Senior High School in addition to serve the various communities.
Nana Koso Dum IV, the Mankrado of the town, commended the residents for their positive action towards the growth of the community and urged them to keep the communal spirit burning until the community saw total development.
He said the school project was a worthy cause, citing the critical role education played in national development and encouraged the younger generation to stick to the values of the community and stay dedicated to their studies to become great persons in future.
Nana Dum also urged citizens to be law-abiding and stay away from activities that will see them on the wrong side of the law.
“Discipline is a basic requirement for development and so a society without discipline cannot see any development,” he stressed.
Mr Ato Forson described the idea as a laudable move which deserved every support.
“Do not let the enthusiasm wane because if you relax, no help can come from the government or other benefactors,” he encouraged them.
Mr Alex Ankomah, Assembly member for Ochiso North Electoral Area, said the quality of education was dipping in the area due to the poor infrastructure.
Commending the association for the initiative, he revealed that it was his desire to see the school advance to a higher level because education was key to human development.
“The teachers are doing their best but the students are unable to learn and so this new infrastructure will motivate the students to sit up,” he added.
Maxwell Mensah, Assembly Member for Ochiso South, for his part, pledged to support the project through the organisation of communal labour until it was completed.
GNA