Ministry to merge or close down schools

Motion on irrigation loan adopted

Accra (Greater Accra) 28 July '99

The Ministry of Education plans to merge or close down community schools which are not making any effort to improve their enrolment levels, Mr Kwabena Kyere, a Deputy Minister of Education told Parliament on Tuesday.

Mr Kyere, who was answering questions in Parliament on behalf of the substantive Minister, therefore, entreated traditional rulers and opinion leaders in the communities to support the school authorities to encourage the people to patronise the senior secondary schools in their areas.

His response followed a question by Mr Stephen Kwaku Balado Manu, NPP-Ahafo Ano South, who wanted to know whether the Minister is aware of the low level of enrolment at the Mankranso Senior Secondary School.

Mr Kyere said the Ministry is aware of the low enrolment levels in some senior secondary schools in the country and attributed the situation to a number of factors, including low enrolment in junior secondary schools within the community, which feed the senior secondary schools.

He mentioned lack of qualified teachers, poor performance of students and societal perception of local schools.

Mr Kyere said Mankranso, where the school is situated, is inhabited by settler farmers, many of whom do not send their children to school since they rely on them to help them on the farms.

This situation, he explained, has affected enrolment in junior secondary schools, which has subsequently influenced admission into the senior secondary school.

The circumstance at Mankranso Senior Secondary School calls for collaborative efforts in the delivery of education, he said, noting that the district assemblies now have a greater mandate to promote the development of education in their areas by committing more development funds to the needs of schools.

On incentives to entice trained teachers to deprived areas, the Deputy Minister said the Ministry is considering a package of job security, satisfaction, welfare needs of teachers and financial reward schemes.

He said under the package the Ministry is addressing the issue of delay in the payment of salaries, particularly for newly-trained teachers, posting of teachers, sustaining of teacher confidence, rural allowance, opportunity for self-improvement and best teacher award, among other incentives.

Mr Kyere said the Ministry has, since September last year, initiated a programme to improve the supply of library books to basic schools with the assistance of the British Department of International Development (DFID).

He was asked what steps the Ministry was taking to ensure the provision of library facilities for first cycle schools,

The programme is being supported by a 52 million-pound grant received from the British government in 1998, he said, adding that the books would be supplied direct to the schools.

Mr Kyere explained that the intervention is intended to supplement the Ministry's plan under the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme of supplying 60 and 70 copies for primary and junior secondary schools, respectively each year.

He said the distribution has begun in the Ashanti, Greater Accra and Upper West Regions.

The Deputy Minister said a series of training workshops are being organised under the DFID/British Council package, which were aimed at building the capacity of the districts to be actively involved in the selection and procurement of suitable books for school libraries in their areas.

Mr Joseph Darko-Mensah, NPP-Okaikoi North, wanted to know what measures the Ministry was taking to reduce over-crowding in basic schools especially, the Achimota and Abeka junior secondary schools, as well as primary schools in New Fadama, all in his constituency.

Mr Kyere stated that the Accra Metropolitan Assembly is helping to decongest the affected schools.

He explained that by law, it is the responsibility of district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies to build equip and maintain schools, saying the Ministry of Education comes in to supplement their efforts.

The Deputy Minister said the problem of over-enrolment and its consequent implications of congestion and discomfort for the pupils had been a matter of concern to the Ministry.

He said to rectify the situation the Metropolitan and the Greater Accra Regional Office of the Ministry issued directives after a series of investigations.

School authorities were directed that from September 1998, enrolment in primary one was not to exceed 46 in a class, new streams should be created to ease over-crowding and mid-academic year admissions should be discontinued.

Mr Kyere informed the House that the directives have, to a large extent, been complied with and the situation is gradually returning to normalcy.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 28 July ’99

Parliament on Tuesday adopted a motion for the approval of a Finance Committee Report for a loan of 20.4 million dollars for the development of small-scale irrigation projects in nine regions of the country.

The loan agreement between the government and the African Development Fund of the African Development Bank would be used to establish 15 small-scale irrigation schemes covering 2,590 hectares.

About 6,000 farmers would benefit from the projects to be implemented in two five-year phases.

Mr Joseph .E. Ackah, Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee in a report said the projects aim among other things at ensuring increased food security, improved nutrition and boosting farmers income.

He said it is also aimed at reducing food imports, through increased agricultural output and open employment opportunities.

"The objective of this project in the light of the above-mentioned goals is to increase crop production of about 6,000 small holder farmers".

Mr Ackah said the project would ensure that women participate in owning plots and become members of farmers associations.

It will enabled them to market produce from their own and other plots, processing and storage of excess produce through the provision of training, organisational support and credit facilities.

The Chairman noted that implementation of the project would increase food production and ensure all year round production of food.

"It is the view of the Committee that the project if properly managed would be very much beneficial and will to some extent contribute to the reduction of poverty in the country'', he added.

Seconding the motion, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, NPP-Asante Akim North noted that this is one of the best loans to be approved by the House in recent times.

"It is a straight forward loan, the purpose is clear, there is enough documentation to support it and there are no contentious issues.''

Mr Baah-Wiredu, however, noted that past irrigation projects have been mismanaged and called on the Ministry of Finance to ensure that the Irrigation Development Authority (IDA) is in a position to ensure proper utilisation of the loan.

He further called for the establishment of an Irrigation Fund.

Members from both sides of the House called for the approval of the loan in view of the fact that the country can no longer rely on rain-fed agriculture.

They also approved the terms and conditions of the loan, which has a repayment period of 40 years. With the irrigation farmers association would be expected to contribute about five per cent of the cost of the projects.

This, they noted would ensure that farmers make good use of the loan and the project since they would be contributing towards their establishment.

Members noted that agriculture requires long term credit with low interest like this one and encouraged the government to go in for more of such loans.

They, however, called on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to create avenues for storage and marketing to prevent post harvest losses.

For prompt repayment of the credit component, members called on implementing agencies to ensure that the monies are released to farmers on time.

Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, a Deputy Minister of MOFA, noted that Ghana has only one per cent of arable land under irrigation, the least in the sub-region, hence the need for an increase in irrigated land.

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