OUR Thursday, July 6, 2017 cover story of pupils crossing a broken and perilous footbridge on the Ayensu River in Osedu, a community in the Agona East District of the Central Region, is only a tip of the iceberg of some of the daunting challenges confronting many basic schools in many communities across the country.
THE case of a dangerous bridge used by pupils of Osedu Oduguan Primary and Junior High School (JHS) is not a case peculiar to this basic school. In fact, there are many basic schools in our rural areas where access is a huge problem.
WE recall a story by Amansan TV (ATV), Accra, of a school in Agordie in the Akatsi South District of the Volta Region, where school children on daily basis swim a river in the area before gaining access to education, with all its attendant risks.
THE story might sound incredible to some, but it isn’t uncommon in this country for children from less privileged areas facing immense hardship on their commute to the institute of learning.
IN our said cover story, we reported that the lives of over 2,000 pupils of the Osedu Oduguan Primary and Junior High School were at risk, following their continuous use of the said broken bridge which is the only route used by the children to school.
THE said story goes on to state that children who cannot walk on this dangerous bridge are compelled to swim across the river in order to make it to school. And according to the news item, the situation has seen many of the children drop out of school.
FOR us at Weekend Today, we are not surprised at all that the situation at Osedu Oduguan Primary and JHS has led to some of the children dropping out of school. The question that come into mind is: what will these dropouts become in future?
IF we believe that education holds the key to unlocking our development potential as it has happened in the advanced world then we must fix problems like the one facing the primary school at Osedu.
BY fixing the problem at Oseda Oduguan Primary and JHS, we will be helping to shape the lives of our future leaders.
IT is, therefore, our humble appeal that the powers-that-be will go to the aid of Oseda Oduguan Primary School by fixing the broken bridge. Let’s not wait for disaster to strike before we act!
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