THE GLARING DISPARITY BETWEEN RURAL AND URBAN SCHOOL IN GHANA
Education, the means of inculcating moral values, norms and means of knowledge acquisition probably started with humans from the beginning of our existence, since our biological make up demands that we have to learn to interact with environment. Historical antecedents have in one way or the other denied the Eastern part of the country. A systematic analysis of the Ghanaian educational system and its reforms would reveal that much has not changed from the system of education that was introduced by the colonial masters. The CPP Government of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory was the first to make a positive impact. As the first post-independence government, it introduced several reforms including free, compulsory basic education and more scholarship scheme to ensure that more Ghanaians were educated enough to contribute to his Africanization dream.
There was little done under the Progress Party, Supreme Military Council I and II and Peoples National Party government but significant were made by the PNDC/NDC with the introduction of Junior Secondary School system which phased out the advanced and Ordinary Level Certificate system. Not too long afterwards, the New Patriotic Party which came to power in 2000, subsequently introduced some modalities that changed the Secondary education from three years to four years but shortly after NDC returned to power in2008, it reversed the system back to the initial three years. The foregoing analysis indicates that the reforms that were introduced had suffered political interference.
The major concern of the unequal access to quality education or disparity between the rural areas and urban centers has brought about the marginalization of the rural child who wants to have access to the same system and standard of education as that obtained in the urban setting. The advantage of the city or urban education far outweighs those of the rural poor. The students in the city is exposed to many social and environmental happenings that makes his life far better than the rural student because the interaction he is exposed to contributes to depth of his knowledge and academic performance. The rural schools are often characterized by inadequate teachers, poor classroom structures, teaching and learning materials and in some cases schools under trees. At times it becomes impossible to have lessons during rainy seasons and bad weather. Even though Ghana’s constitution states equal access to education, it is a mere, rhetorical than reality.
Notwithstanding the challenges and difficulties the rural pupils have to undergo, they still have to sit for the same exams with the urban child who already is miles ahead. It’s about time educational facilities and infrastructure was provided equitably across the length of breadth of the country to have desired impact. Imagine a student who travels miles to school on foot, some have to cross rivers and streams before they see the classroom. Yet again, some of these struggle to get to school only to meet empty structures without teachers. The Ghana news Agency reported a troubling phenomenon in the Bunkpunugu/Yunyoo District where about 32 school buildings in the area were ripped off by rainstorm. The authorities concerned such as National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the Ghana Education Service could not help in the re-roofing of the schools, compelling pupils to sit in those dilapidated classroom daily for academic work.
In an interview with New TV, residents of Okraa Agyei a community within the Kwahu South District of the Eastern Region called on the government to come to their aid to provide them classroom blocks and teaching and learning materials for the school. With a population of 400 pupils, the school can only boast of three mud unit classroom block which was built for nursery 1, 2 and class 1. The bad condition compels teachers to hold classes in budges in uncompleted mud structures and there is also no teaching and learning during rainy seasons because there is no shelters. So they channel their worries through New TV. The school made of mud and roofed with thatch cannot shelter them from the rain. Children from kindergarten run helter skelter. Their books splatter the compound in their rush for shelter. This is no fiction; it’s a reality and a norm in a rural school in Ghana. The students complained of teaching and learning materials, furniture, ICT laboratory and its equipment to be used by the teachers to teach them. They have never seen a textbook on ICT, yet students are made to write it at their final exams. How can a rural pupil pass well in ICT in this environment when the student has never seen a computer before? Ghana has a long way to go in improving rural education. This challenging situation, mathematics, science, and English textbooks have been in short supply in schools in that District. This phenomenon might not be an isolated one; it could be worse even in some schools in the rural areas. The teachers in the school say the poor condition of the building and broken furniture makes students uncomfortable and contributes to high rate of absenteeism as well as low performance in exams and poor achievement.
In most of the communities in the Kwahu South District New TV visited, No means of transportation to the school for the teachers. Teachers are not motivated to teach, when you see the kind of houses these teachers lives in, you will marvel. We are not just saying it but New media have seen it and still seeing it.
The Government and the policy makers are not only wasting the precious time of these pupils but are also putting their future in jeopardy in today’s competitive world. Politicians and policy makers must be serious and address the problems facing the system holistically otherwise the future of the children will continue to be in great jeopardy.
Such unequal distribution of educational infrastructure/facilities leading to significant disparity could only be addressed if politics was divorced from educational planning. There ought to be a national policy direction that will dictate to policy makers what they must do and not what they wish to do. Sufficient funds should be voted towards quality education with serious monitoring to make the pupils and the entire nation to benefit from the system.
The DCE’s, District Education Director’s, NCCE, Traditional leaders and the ministry should do what they can to help make our education in the rural areas to be better and also teachers should be given incentives and a means of transportation.
Much as well as we call for peaceful election in December 2020, the thumbs must also be utilized to tell the politicians the truth that enough is enough, by exercising the vote based on vital issues such as educational delivery. Our attitude as people has to change the politicians, especially, should learn to serve rather than Lord it over to the people.
Ghanaians deserve to enjoy the richest of the nation and there is no better way to do so than for the Government to provide the citizenry the best of education.
SOURCE: AFYA ASEMPA AGYEI
(NEW MEDIA)
EDITORIAL OF CRITICISM
