Hundreds of desks have allegedly been left at the mercy of the weather at the premises of the Department of Urban Roads in the Volta Region for more than a year while some classrooms in the region lack desks for efficient academic work.

This is a claim from the communication unit of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the region.

The Volta NDC, in a statement, said the Coastal Development Authority provided the dual desks to be distributed to schools last year but that has not been done.

“The NDC Volta is calling on the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, to fix the problem by making sure the Regional Director of Education takes the necessary steps to get the desks allocated to the various schools within the shortest possible time, as part of his oversight responsibilities over education in the region,” the statement said.

Read the full statement below:

PRESS RELEASE

19TH MAY, 2021

BY VOLTA NDC

LEAVING DESKS TO ROT, AN INDICTMENT ON THE VOLTA REGIONAL MINISTER

Ghanaian youth as never before in the history of the country, are going through an era of deepening frustration and disappointment as a result of the high cost of living precipitated by the high level of unemployment among them, which is compelling them to call for the fixing of the economy. The youth cannot be wrong in their call when they see things that should be fixed by the government, with less effort being left unattended to, much to the dismay of the taxpayer who gets little or no value for his money.

The current waves of agitation demand that leadership expedites action on doing what is appropriate to fix the plethora of problems confronting the nation.

One would have thought that with this massive wave of agitation from the youth, the government would do what is expedient in order to assuage the frustration and anger of the youth. Unfortunately, the government appears to be at its wits end about the problem thereby aggravating the anger and frustration among the youth.

It is a shock to many in the Volta Region that despite the fact that our Basic and Junior High Schools are confronted with problems such as the unavailability of textbooks to facilitate quality teaching and learning, absence of capitation grant to schools since last year 2020, inadequate desks for students, lack of training on the new curriculum for teachers to implement the common core programmes at the JHS level, desks procured at great cost to the taxpayer are left to rot. Lack of desks is one of the biggest problems confronting schools in the region. Unfortunately, several hundreds of desks have been left at the mercy of the weather at the premises of Department of Urban Roads to rot away, whiles some classrooms in the region remain amazingly empty.

One would have thought that directives on the allocation of these desks to deserving schools would be a priority in these difficult times to improve the teaching and learning environment.

The Coastal Development Authority which provided the dual desks to be distributed to schools did so last year with the belief that the desks would be allocated to schools to improve the situation, but never.

This is clearly one of the reasons why the youth are calling on the government to fix the country. Leaving these desks at the mercy of the weather is an incredible indictment on the performance of the Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa.

The NDC Volta is calling on the Volta Regional Minister, Hon Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, to fix the problem by making sure the Regional Director of Education takes the necessary steps to get the desks allocated to the various schools within the shortest possible time, as part of his oversight responsibilities over education in the region.

#FixTheCountry

#voiceofvolta

Signed:

Sorkpa K. Agbleze

(NDC Regional Communication Officer)

Delali Bright Kugbeadzor

(Deputy Regional Communication Officer)