AFOTEY AGBO SUPPORTS SCHOOL (PAGE 14, JUNE 16, 2010)

THE Minister of State at the Presidency and Member of Parliament for Kpone-Katamanso constituency, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, has donated 100 pieces of dual desks to the Kpone Presbyterian Junior High School and the Ebenezer Hills Schools at Sebrepor, a suburb of Tema.
Mr Afotey Agbo bought the desks valued at GH¢5,000 with part of his share of the Ghana Education Trust fund (GETFund).
The Special Aide to the MP, Mr Anthony Nukpenu, who presented the items on his behalf, stated that the donation was part of the MP’s contribution towards the improvement of education in the constituency.
He said to ensure that children within the constituency accessed quality education, Mr Afortey-Agbo was working in collaboration with the education committee of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) and the Ministry of Education on various interventions aimed at minimising incidents of school dropout rates within the constituency.
Mr Nukpenu lamented the apathetic attitude of some parents and guardians towards the education of their wards, and challenged parents to be committed to matters concerning their children’s enlightenment.
“It is regrettable to see guardians acquiring new clothing for funeral after funeral at the expense of their children’s education,” he lamented.
The Headmistress of the Ebenezer Hills Junior High School (JHS), Ms Dorothy Bulley, who received the items on behalf of the two schools, commended the MP for the gesture.
She appealed for more support for the school, which had lacked logistical support over the last decade owing to neglect by the authorities.
The Assistant Headmistress of the Kpone Presbyterian JHS, Ms Christiana Tawiah, told the Daily Graphic that her school which had not witnessed any major renovation works for the last 30 years, was on the verge of collapse.
She said the classrooms were also overcrowded with over 70 pupils in one class, making teaching and learning difficult, as most of the pupils squat while some sat on the bare floor during teaching hours.
“Several letters to the TMA and the education directorate have been left unattended to while periodic visits by some officials from the Ministry of Education have become cosmetic ones, as they never return to address the problem after such tours,” Mr Tawiah stressed.
She, therefore, called on corporate institutions operating within the Tema Metropolis to extend their social responsibility towards supporting education as they were the main beneficiaries of the human resources produced by those institutions.