BOOST FOR EDUCATION (NOV 27)

ONE refreshing news that will surely gladden the hearts of the people of the Northern Region is the decision by the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) to construct 30 schools in five districts in the region.
The $2.8 million project, which has already been awarded to contractors, will be located in the Savelugu/Nanton, West Mamprusi, Karaga and Tolon-Kumbungu districts, as well as the Tamale metropolis.
The project, which marks the first phase of the construction of school infrastructure, will have such basic amenities as water reservoirs, information and communications technology (ICT) centres, teachers’ quarters, canteens, sanitation facilities, electricity, potable water, among others.
This is a very progressive step in skills empowerment to position our next generation in good stead to contribute to nation-building.
It is hoped that the selection of districts for the first phase of the project was not linked to any political consideration but was done transparently to help in reducing poverty to promote sustainable economic growth.
The Northern Region, arguably the biggest region in Ghana, is one of the highly deprived regions and it is our expectation that the injection of the investment will help to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the beneficiary communities and in the long term engender a paradigm shift in dealing with the challenges of our times.
The DAILY GRAPHIC concedes that the MCA may not have the magic wand for the development challenges, but it is our hope that just like elsewhere where the MCA has supported the people’s endeavours, the fund will make a significant impact on the development of the physical infrastructure, as well as the human resource base, of the country to boost agricultural production.
Similarly, the professional competence of the Ghanaian contractors executing those projects will be put to test, as they are expected to deliver to specifications as a testament to our preparedness to maximise returns from the investment. This is so important because they are expected to deliver the works within six months and the client’s insistence on quality explains why some of the sites for the construction of the schools have been relocated to places where the menace of floods and disasters will be avoided.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that the confidence reposed in the local contractors must not be undermined in any way, so that the general perception about the Ghanaian contractor carrying out shoddy work will be a thing of the past.
If they fail in this bid to deliver quality work, their iniquities will surely affect the schoolchildren, the country’s future leaders, and eventually impact negatively on the demand by local contractors to be given preference over their foreign counterparts.
The DAILY GRAPHIC hopes that within the five-year span of the project, which covers $241 million for agriculture, $143 million for transportation and $101 million for rural development, nearly 230,000 Ghanaians will be lifted from poverty.
The MCA support alone will not yield the desired results without the resolve of the beneficiaries, civil society groups and the government to co-operate with the contractors to achieve value for money and thereby change the fortunes of school-going children in the catchment areas. Let us use our own resources to complement those of the MCA to end the “under-tree schools” syndrome by constructing more school blocks throughout the country.