The chiefs and people of Vuti-Deke, a fishing community in the Pru District, could not hide their joy when Mission of Hope Society (MIHOSO), a non-governmental organization, handed-over an Early Childhood Development Center (ECD) to the community at the weekend.
Elder Williams Azomani, a community leader told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the facility had brought a sigh of relief to the people as school children had to walk more than 12 kilometres to attend classes at Yeji, the district capital.
With support from Child Fund Korea, through the Christian Children Fund of Canada (CCFC) NGOs, MIHOSO supervised the construction of the project estimated at GHC72, 000.
It comprised three classroom blocks, an office, toilet, store, urinal, dining hall, rain water harvesting tank and playing equipment.
Mr Gabriel Gbiel Benarkuu, Chief Executive Officer of MIHOSO, said his NGO and the Pru District Assembly contributed about GHC15, 000 to the project.
He said the district assembly had previously provided a school pavilion for the community but it was recently destroyed by floods.
Mr Benarkuu said because there was no school in the area, parents capitalized on that to use their children for their fishing business, a situation which had made many of the school children to engage in fishing at the expense of their formal education.
Mr Opoku Kwarteng, Pru District Director of Education, expressed concern about child labour in the area, saying students' performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) was not encouraging as many parents persuaded their children to go on fishing for their upkeep.
Mr Kwarteng called on the various Parent/Teacher Associations and School Management Committees (SMCs) to collaborate to identify and address basic problems that are hindering quality education in the area.
He said the level of Information Communication Technology (ICT) among students was very low and therefore needed urgent attention.
Mrs. Gifty Akosua Baka, Country Director of CCFC, said the NGO had a mission of creating a future of hope for children especially those in deprived communities.
She said research had shown that close to 30 percent of children less than five years in Ghana were not in any pre-school, a situation which was against their fundamental human rights and kept them from reaching their full potential in adult life.
Mrs. Baka expressed the hope that the District Directorate of Education would ensure regular maintenance of the facility and also make sure professional early childhood development teachers were posted to the area.
Nana Opambour Dr Busumbru Kwame Aworo II, Paramount Chief of Konkoba and Overlord of the area, thanked the NGOs and pledged that his traditional area was ready to release any size of land to support such projects.