GES Donates Jackets to students: The Ghana Education Service (GES) has provided 100 students from the Atigagorme village who cross the river to attend school at Wayokope in the Sene East District of the Bono East Region with life jackets and educational materials.
The life jackets are to be utilised as a temporary measure of safety and security for the students and instructors in the community, according to the Director-General of the Service, Dr. Eric Nkansah, in a social media post.
“I also took the opportunity to inspect a piece of land donated by the community for the construction of a school by the Government within the shortest possible time,” the Ghana Education Service Director-General said in the post.
The donation of the jackets comes after Africa Education Watch following the death of some 8 students who drowned in the Volta lake has asked GES to provide life jackets to all school children and staff who sail to and from school.
According to EduWatch, education officials in the district where the students drowned have said over a hundred pupils and staff sail to school under unregulated transport systems each day.
The education think tank describing the incident as unfortunate said that life jackets should be provided to all island and settler communities in the country where children and staff commute by water transport to school.
“We urge the GES to facilitate the availability of life jackets to all school children and staff who sail to and from school, not only in the Sene East district but all other ‘island and settler communities’ where children and staff commute by water transport to school,” it stated.
Africa Education Watch continued that “the Ghana Education Service should in collaboration with the relevant state agencies, facilitate health and safety orientation sessions for all its pupils and staff in island communities.”
The policy think tank has also suggested for the Ministry of Education provide schools with decent teacher accommodation and financial incentives (for teachers) on the island and settle communities including Wayokope.
“In the medium term, the Ministry of Education must provide schools with decent teacher accommodation and financial incentives (for teachers) in ‘island and settler communities, including Wayokope, where this unfortunate incident occurred.,” EduWatch said.
The late 8 students according to the report were among 20 others crossing from the Atikagome community in the Sene East District of the Bono East region to Wayokope when the boat they were travelling in capsized.
Confirming the news to Accra-based Citi FM, the Sene East Director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Ibrahim Wudonyim said the ages of the deceased in that tragedy ranged between 16 and 31.
