By Elorm Yao Aryee
14,704 children currently lack access to basic education in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region following the recent flood disaster that hit the parts of the District. They were pupils of 46 out of 73 Basic Schools in the District affected by the spillage of excess water from the Akosombo and Kpongor Dams by the Volta River Authority.
The Acting Head of Planning of the Ghana Education Service in the North Tongu District, Selorm Dela Kpongor disclosed this at Battor when the Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum toured the affected areas to ascertain the impact of the disaster on education in the district. He however said the district education office has begun processes to temporarily merge some schools to enable affected pupils to join their colleagues in schools which were not affected.
The fact-finding tour by the Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum and his team saw him interacting with teachers and other stakeholders of education in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region. At Mepe, the epi center of the Akosombo Dam spillage flood disaster, some teachers whose homes have been submerged by the floods appealed for support from the education ministry to get back to normal lives. One of the affected teachers, Cephas Agoh in an interview with GBC News said many teachers at Mepe have loss their homes and belongings through the disaster.
The team also visited the St Kizito Senior High Technical School at Mepe, which serves as one of the largest holding centres for victims of the disaster in the North Tongu District. There are makeshift classes where children at the camp receive lessons from teachers. The Acting Head of Planning of the Ghana Education Service in the North Tongu District, Selorm Dela Kpongor said while some of the basic schools have been submerged, others are partially hit by the disaster or are presently used as safe havens for the displaced residents.
The Minister for Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum said the fact-finding tour has provided the team with enough information to develop and implement strategies to ensure that the education of pupils in the affected areas are not truncated.
He said the Ministry soon drew a roadmap to create a short-term education system for the pupils to learn. The Minister was accompanied by the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa, some members of the Parliament’s select committee on education and directors from the ministry.
Mr. Osei Adutwum donated some educational materials for the pupils at the centre. He also presented over 400 bags of rice to teachers who have been affected by the disaster.
Meanwhile, a careful look on the buildings inundated by the disaster shows that the stagnant flood water levels in the affected areas are receding at a slow pace. Officials from the Volta River Authority indicated that there is likely to be a significant improvement by the first week of November because there is a reduction in the inflows of water in the Akosombo Dam from upstream.
Per the latest statistics of the National Disaster Management Organisation, 35,955 residents in the affected areas have been displaced.
