Help has come at last for pupils of the Pleyo M/A Primary School in the Eastern Region following the intervention by the Divisional Chief of Okper in the Yilo Krobo Traditional Area who has facilitated commencement works of the construction of a 4-unit classroom block to address their infrastructural deficit.
GhanaWeb on 5 April 2021 reported the plight of the pupils who had no option but to cope with infrastructural difficulties confronting the school until help finally arrives.
The portal reported that the school with a pupil population of 280 was confronted with infrastructural difficulties such as lack of adequate classroom blocks, washrooms, and insufficient pupils and teachers’ furniture.
The situation was forcing the pupils of classes three to six to study in a frail bamboo structure built by the community to serve as temporal classroom blocks for the affected classes.
Headmistress of the school, Madam Regina Djangmah, and the Dadematse of the area, Nene Emmanuel Tetteh Kwao, and members of the community, therefore, made an appeal to the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly and other benevolent organizations for support to provide a conducive learning environment for the pupils.
The community as part of efforts to address the problem has through communal labour begun construction works on the classroom block to address the infrastructural deficit of the school.
Divisional Chief of Okper, Nene Teye Agor IX in an earlier interview said the citizenry could be agents of development without necessarily depending on the government. To demonstrate this position, Nene Agor II led members of the community in the communal labour to begin construction works on the classroom block.
The plight of the school came to the attention of the chief after GhanaWeb’s report and during a tour of some schools within his traditional area.
“The townsfolk complained about the state of the school and I told them we shouldn’t wait for the government to do everything because it might be late before it gets to our turn. So I told them we can do it and I contributed bags of cement (50) towards the project,” he said.
The generosity of the chief coupled with the communal spirit of members of the people led to the commencement of works on the four-unit classroom block to accommodate the pupils.
According to the chief, the community would continue to work towards its progress to motivate the government and other stakeholders to come to its aid.
“Our prayer is that the government, individuals, NGOs, and other opinion leaders would come on board to support their efforts towards the completion of the school,” he said.
He urged various members of the Okper community to contribute their quota, ensure unity and support him towards the development of their respective communities within the traditional area.
PTA chairman of the Pleyo M/A Primary School, Mr. Robert Teye Tawiah was regretful that despite efforts by members of the PTA and community to develop the school, it did not receive enough support from stakeholders.
He, therefore, expressed appreciation to the chief for his support and mobilizing the community towards the project.
A photo of the Pleyo M/A Primary School