Work to clear the 5,403 schools under trees across the country-Kintampo North MP to government

Member of Parliament for Kintampo North, Honourable Joseph Kwame Kuma has lashed out at the government for what he termed the government's reluctance to remove schools under trees. His call came at the back of a statement he delivered in House lamenting the government's unreadiness to remove schools from under trees across the country. According to his statement on the floor of parliament, he said, some 5,403 are still under trees, sheds, and dilapidated structures across the country without adequate desks.

Sadly, the statement indicated that most of the few that have some structures also lacked proper ventilation. In light of the above, he is calling on the government to save the future leaders of the country by directing resources to provide a better learning environment. Unfortunately, he recounted that the situation has been exacerbated by the Free Senior High School(FSHS) policy as it has received all the concentrations at the detriment of basic education. "In as much as the free SHS is a bold and ambitious initiative that must be commended, it is expected that such an initiative will be built on a very strong basic education foundation. For the Bible tells us in Matthew 7:24-27 to build our house on the rock so that when the rain comes, it shall not be blown away", he added. "Basic education has always accounted for the highest share in education expenditures before 2015 when it was overtaken by spending on Junior High School, Senior High School, and Tertiary education.

This raises concerns about the equity of public spending because children from poor households rarely make it through to SHS and Tertiary education", he said. " With about 22% of students not being able to complete JHS nationally, as of 2020, there still exist huge gaps in terms of access and completion of basic education, meaning, a significant number of children who will not be able to benefit from the free SHS policy because they are unable to complete their basic education", he bemoaned.

He proposed that the government should adopt what he termed a composite school design for basic schools which will incorporate KG, primary,y, and JHS. He said that will help to prevent the situation of having over 4,000 primary schools without JHS in the future.

Report by Prosper Kwaku Selassy Agbitor