By Kamal Ahmed
Boti (E/R), Sept. 14, GNA – Persistent teacher shortages in parts of the Yilo Krobo Municipality is reducing enrolment in public schools, as increasing numbers of parents transfer their children to private institutions.
Mr Joseph Tetteh, popularly known as Aketewa, a former Assembly Member for the Boti Electoral Area, who stated this noted that the shortage was affecting teaching and learning and placing additional pressure on already understaffed schools.
He raised the concern at the Boti R/C School during a ceremony where the Chief of Abokobi, Asafoaste Obuyoe Batsa III, donated 5,000 exercise books to support teaching and learning.
Mr Tetteh said only four teachers were currently handling classes at the primary school, prompting many parents to transfer their children to private schools in Nkurakan and neighbouring communities.
He appealed to the Chief to engage the Ghana Education Service (GES) to facilitate the posting of more teachers, saying improved staffing would enhance educational outcomes and support community development.
“Even at the JHS, there should be five teachers, but as I speak, only two teachers are handling the entire school. It is a worrying situation for a community known nationwide because of the Boti Falls, a tourism destination,” he said.
Mr Tetteh noted that pupils in the area would sit for the same Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) as their counterparts in better-resourced schools despite having fewer teachers and limited academic support.
He also advocated the construction of teachers’ bungalows to attract and retain teachers in the rural community.
In a related development, Mr Padi Michael Tetteh, Assembly Member for the Akorwu Bannah Electoral Area, said enrolment at the Akorwu Bannah Presbyterian Primary and Junior High School had declined significantly because of the shortage of teachers.
He told the Ghana News Agency that the school, which previously enrolled more than 300 pupils, had experienced a steady fall in enrolment as parents opted for private schools.
“Every morning, buses from private schools come here to pick our children to Nkurakan and bring them back after school. That is gradually collapsing our public school,” he said.
Mr Padi said the community had engaged the Municipal Directorate of the GES on the matter, but no additional teachers had been posted to the school.
He warned that continued low enrolment could eventually threaten the school’s future, adding that only four teachers were currently handling classes from kindergarten to junior high school.
Mr Joseph Tetteh appealed to the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education to urgently deploy more teachers to affected schools and support the construction of teachers’ bungalows.
He said timely intervention was needed to improve educational outcomes and secure the future of children in the Boti area.
GNA
Edited by D.I. Laary/Kenneth Odeng Adade