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Children in Nkra Akura and other surrounding communities in the Krachi East District of the Volta Region have resorted to fishing after their school became non-operational due to the withdrawal of teachers under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) programme.

The head of the Nkra Akura Community, Dzoboku told Oti Radio that the school, which was built by the community, became defunct after government withdrew the teachers from the school.

After the withdrawal of the YEA teachers, we employed pupil teachers and paid them from our own resources, he added.

He indicated that although the former Member of Parliament (MP), Wisdom Gidisu, assisted the community to roof the school building, they failed to sustain the payment of pupil teachers.

Owing to the development, children of school going age are always seen fishing in the Oti River and assisting their parents in other jobs.

Mr. Dzoboku said that over the past two years, the children have abandoned their academic work for fishing.

Members of the community, who confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE, therefore called on the Ghana Education Service (GES), District Assembly, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other benevolent persons and institutions to come to their aid.

Apart from that, Nkra Akura has poor road network and they also have to travel several kilometers on bad roads to access healthcare and the Dambai Market.

The community lacks potable water and relies on the Oti River for both domestic and commercial use.

Nkra Akura Not On GES List 

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Krachi East Education Directorate, Boniface Onyameama, however narrated that the school at Nkra Akura has not been on the list of the Education Directorate for many years.

He explained that his preliminary investigations indicate that the school used to be on the list of schools of the then Krachi District, which was later split into Krachi East and West.

After the division of the district in 2005, Krachi East had 94 Junior High and Primary Schools, but this particular school is not on the GES list, so it is not recognized, he noted.

He explained the Nkra Akura School, which used to be under the Krachi District, collapsed in the 1990s.

People think that the two schools are the same because it was the Tsavokofe School which was placed under the tutelage of the YEA teachers and not Nkra Akura.  Probably because they are close by, the people are confusing the two schools. Be that as it may, Tsavokofe School also became defunct after the YEA teachers were disengaged, Mr. Onyameama added.

He said the children in the two communities, Nkra Akura and Tsavokofe, can attend school at Monkurate, which is close to both communities.

The PRO gave the assurance that the GES Office would support any initiative by the inhabitants of Nkra Akura and Tsavokofe to build their school.