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Following the drowning of the eight school children in the Volta Lake while crossing from Atigagorme to Wayokope to attend school, the Ghana Education Service (GES) has taken over a piece of community land to construct a new school at Atigagorme for the children to stop them from crossing the lake to attend school.
In addition, the Director-General of Service, Dr Eric Nkansah, has donated 100 life jackets and learning materials to the community.
Dr Eric Nkansah (middle in smock)
This was when he visited the bereaved families of the eight last Friday.
Dr Nkansah noted that the Ministry of Education would soon commence the construction of the school on the island community, hence he inspected the piece of land donated by the community to be used for the construction of the school.
However, he explained that the donation of the life jackets was an interim safety and security measure for the school children,
“We are deeply saddened by the occurrence and as leaders, we have it as our duty to ensure that such bad news never befalls our children again.
“To address the challenge, the Ministry is constructing a school here in Atigagorme within the shortest possible time. As we wait for the completion of the school, I plead with all parents and teachers to ensure that our children wear the life jackets we have donated today,” Dr Nkansah said.
To address the challenge of inadequate teachers on the island community, the Director-General disclosed that he was in talks with the District Chief Executive (DCE) of the area to recruit and post some teachers to the community.
Dr Nkansah consoled the children on the boat who survived the incident and assured them of the continuous support of GES to ensure they were safe and secure.
The Director-General was accompanied by the Financial Controller of GES, Dr Chris Koramoah; the Regional Director of Bono East, Madam EffuaAmual; the DCE of Sene East, Mr Kofi Gyimah; the Sene East District Director of Education, Mr Nassir Ibrahim and other staff members from the GES.
Receiving the items on behalf of the community, Mr Nathan Baflo, the Assembly member for Old Nkomi Electoral Area, commended GES and pledged to ensure that the school children would use them when crossing the river.
“We are grateful to the GES for the proactive measures they have taken since the incident occurred. Indeed, lack of life jackets for the school children has been a major challenge and I am happy that we have received these new 100 jackets today. I am also confident that the construction of the school here in Atigagorme will soon commence so that our children wouldn’t have to cross the river to attend school.”
The DCE for Sene East, Mr Gyimah, applauded the Director-General for being a man of his words and donating the life jackets to curb drowning in the island community.
“The Director-General assured me that he was going to visit the families and also donate some life jackets and I am happy that he indeed kept his word. With regard to posting of teachers to the area, as Dr Nkansah has disclosed, we are working together to ensure that lack of teachers on these island communities in the Sene East District becomes a thing of the past,” the DCE said.
On Tuesday, January 24, eight school children who
were among 20 others travelling from Atigagorme to to school at Wayokope drowned when their boat capsized.
On instructions from the Director-General the Regional and District Directors visited the families few days after the incident.
