Parents, teachers and pupils of Kperisi M/A Primary School in the Wa Municipality were elated following the commissioning of a new six-unit classroom block for the school.

The project, which came with Headteacher’s office and storeroom, a staff common room, a library, and an eight-seater KVIP facility as well as furniture for all rooms was constructed and furnished by the Social Investment Fund (SIF) at the cost of GHC620,000.00.

A media report in 2016 revealed that Kperisi M/A Primary School pupils sat on the bare floor to write during lessons due to the lack of furniture.

This prompted the then New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2016 Presidential Running Mate, Dr Mahamud Bawumia, who was on a campaign tour of the region to visit the school and further intensified publicity on the issue.

The wide publicity then prompted the Ministry of Education and the Wa Municipal Assembly to quickly mobilise 200 dual desks to the school, while Dr Bawumia also promised 500 desks.

Dr Bawumia who is now the Vice President had since been a friend of the community and has been the brain behind the construction of the project at Kperisi according to Mr Alois Kyaakpier Mohl, Deputy Executive Director of the SIF.

Speaking during the commissioning of the project at Kperisi in the Wa Municipality, Mr. Mohl noted that even though the SIF funded 80 per cent of the project, cost of any approved sub-project, it however provided full funding for the Kperisi project.

He explained that SIF operated on counterpart funding policy, saying that funding for the Kperisi project came from a legacy debt accrued from 2009 to 2016 by government which was paid after a justification made by SIF.

The Deputy Executive Director of SIF noted that in line with government’s agenda to reduce poverty and extend infrastructure to both rural and urban communities, plans were far advanced to implement phase two of the Integrated Rural Development Project (IRDP).

It will be co-funded by the Arab Bank for International Development in Africa (BADEA), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and the Government of Ghana (GoG).

Mr Mohl implored the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), School Management Committee (SMC) and the Headteacher and staff to ensure that the facility was properly maintained so that it would remain useful to the pupil for years to come.

“When properly managed, the facility will contribute immensely to the human resource development of the people, who would then contribute to building the community and the nation at large”, he said.

Alhaji Tahiru Issahaku Moomin, Wa Municipal Chief Executive, thanked SIF for the project, saying the best way to tackle poverty was to invest in education.

While calling on both the Ghana Education Service (GES) and community members to take good care of the facility, the MCE also hinted that the Assembly would extend electricity and water to the Kperisi Sheanut Processing Factory and Kperisi community respectively.

Alhaji Issahaku Adams, an official of Wa Municipal Education Directorate urged parents to take good care of their children’s education, cautioning that free Senior High School (SHS) did not include dressing and that parents must provide that among other things to their wards to prevent them from possibly engaging in petty stealing in school.

Mr Yussif Nunyenge, a member of the community who spoke on behalf of the Kperisi Chief, Naa Kunligie Seidu II, commended Vice President Bawumia for bringing the project to Kperisi, adding that it had further cemented their relationship.

He appealed for the construction of a Senior High Technical School to advance education among the youth of the area.