MP Constructs GH¢84,000 toilet facilities for 3 communities

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Salaga North, Alhaji Alhassan Mumuni, has handed over three toilet facilities to three selected deprived schools in the constituency.

The GH¢84,000 projects are meant to provide sanitation facilities for school children and teachers in the three communities, which are Dakpemyili, Dashie, and Wulanyili. The project, which is being implemented by the Ghana Education Service (GES), is being sponsored by the Global Partnership for Education Grant, and it is expected to benefit 57 deprived districts across Ghana, of which 19 in the Northern Region are beneficiaries.

Alhaji Alhassan Mumuni, at separate ceremonies to hand over the toilet facilities, reiterated his disappointment at the poor performance of schools in the constituency in the Basic Entrance Certificate Examinations (BECE) and the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) every year.

According to the MP, out of the seven primary schools that took part in the 2013 BECE in the area, five of them recorded zero percent. He put the blame on all stakeholders, who are the traditional authorities, teachers, heads of schools, circuit supervisors, parents, assembly members and himself, for not playing their roles effectively and efficiently.

Alhaji Mumuni, who is a former Circuit Supervisor and a former District Chief Executive for East Gonja, largely blamed most of the teachers in the area for becoming lazy and unwilling to stay and work in the area. He said that the majority of the teachers in the Salaga North Constituency preferred to commute to and from Tamale each morning to school, thus reporting to class late.

The MP, who has already earmarked 30% of his MPs Common Fund to promoting education, especially, to support brilliant but needy students, also announced an award scheme for the best performing teachers in the constituency, from December this year.

He therefore tasked the District Directorate of the GES to help identify such deserving teachers for the honours. The District Director of Education for East Gonja, Sixtus D. Adikwo, said that it had become common practice for school children and teachers in the district to defecate in the bush during school hours due to the absence of toilet facilities in the schools.

According to him, several school children and some teachers had become victims of snake bites, and, therefore, commended the government and its partners for the projects.

He urged parents to educate their children, especially the girl child, noting that girls’ enrollment in school in the district still left much to be desired.