Harmattan Reduces Turnout Rates In Northern Schools

Reports from the Northern Region of Ghana indicate that basic schools in the area are recording low turnouts due to the severity of the Harmattan season. Some parents are said to be afraid of sending their children to school because of the situation. Harmattan is a dry and dusty West African trade wind. It blows south from the Sahara into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March. The temperatures can be as low as 3 degrees Celsius. One of the affected schools is the Lingbung DA Junior High School in the Tolon District of the Northern Region. One of the teachers, by name Sulemana Shaibu Dokurugu, who spoke to Citi News said: �The situation is very bad. Since school resumed last week only a few children come to school and they do so late.� According to him, most teachers residing in Tamale and teaching in schools in the Tolon District find it difficult going to school because of the dust produced from the feeder roads in the area. Mr. Dokurugu lamented that one of the major contributors to the falling standard of education in the district was dues to the severity of the Harmattan season. The situation is prevalent particularly in the Upper East and Upper West Regions which are closer to the desert. Among the health hazards that characterize the Harmattan are flu, cracked lips and toes as well as dust.