Paramount Chief and President of the Paga Traditional Area, P3 Charles Awiah Awumpaga II, has called on the government and Ministry of Education to come to the aid of the Paga Senior High School which is faced with difficulties including poor accommodation facilities.
P3 Awumpaga, who stated the enormous contribution the only senior high school in the town was adding to education in the area, has urged authorities to take note of the challenges hampering the smooth operation of the school and tackle them with the needed urgency.
Paga-Pio particularly directed his passionate appeal to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who he said has publicly assured to improve education and healthcare in the area and begged him to heed his appeal so that the people of Paga can also benefit from some of his government’s policies such as the Free SHS.
Paga -Pio, who made the appeal in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb’s Senyalah Castro who reported the dire situation of the school, enumerated the struggles leadership of the town passed through to put the school into operation. He noted that the school is a valuable asset very much loved by the people of Paga, adding that any support from the government, corporate entities or individuals to address its numerous challenges will be well received and appreciated.
He said, “The school means a lot for Paga people. As you know, a place without education means the people are doing nothing. This school started in 2010 as a community school but it has now been taken by the government. This school, in fact, we have suffered a lot for the school to come to Paga.
But ever since it started, we have been trying to speak to government to address the challenges in the school, like giving us with boarding status because the children [students] are almost one thousand and you know a school without boarding status is not good. They [school and students] can’t do anything without boarding status.”
Paga-Pio revealed that President Akufo-Addo during a visit promised to bring many developmental projects to the area. He stated that the President among many interventions promised to upgrade the Paga clinic to a full district hospital and also bridge the infrastructure deficits at the Paga SHS.
He was however unhappy that none of the promises have come to fruition after the pledge. He, therefore, begged President Akufo-Addo to deliver on his promises so that he could win a place in the hearts of his people for his government.
“When the president came here, we appealed to him to help us and he agreed. He said when he goes back, he will sit with the minister of education so that they will help us to have the boarding status.
He promised that a lot of things will be given to us [Paga] but up to date we haven’t seen anything. Like the Paga Clinic which was to be upgraded to a district hospital. But we haven’t heard anything. So, we are appealing to the President straight [directly] to help us,” Paga-Pio appealed.
P3 Awumpaga furthered the appeal to his subjects both home and away who are in the best position to assist the school not to hesitate to come forth.
Also, the Chairman of the Paga Youth Movement, Richard Alogitega, has also added his voice to the appeals for support for the Paga SHS.
Mr. Alogitega who reiterated the important role the school was playing in the area, said the youth movement has been able to raise some funds which will be used to address some of the difficulties, while waiting for interventions from the authorities.
He explained that a number of cement bags have been procured to begin rebuilding the girl’s dormitory that was destroyed by fire.
“We [youth movement] have organized ourselves and we have made a voluntary contribution. You can see masons around; we have purchased a number of cement bags for them to start with the ground floor to make sure that structure is okay to accommodate the students who are currently there. We are doing this to enable the students who are from far places have a place to stay and learn.”
Until authorities step in to address the accommodation needs of the Paga Senior High School, management of the school will continue to make do with the improvised measures.
Paramount Chief and President of the Paga Traditional Area, P3 Charles Awiah Awumpaga II