Residents of Twumso- Krobom, a remote farming community in the Kwabibirem District of the Eastern Region, are living in terrible conditions due to the absence of basic amenities in the community.
The only school in the community, Twumso L/A Primary School, which serves about six surrounding villages, is in tatters.
The mud pavilion school building partitioned with palm branches was constructed through communal labour by the residents in 1991 in a quest to seek education for their neglected children.
The poor nature of the school building does not encourage parents to enrol their children in school. The children are instead made to engage in farming activities.
This paper observed that many of the pupils had shunned school to engage in farming.
The bad condition of the school, coupled with other challenges in the community, discourages teachers from accepting posting to the area.
Residents have over the years been harvesting logs to put across the river as a bridge to aid crossing, a situation which has over the years posed danger to women and children in particular.
Several efforts by leaders of the Twumso-Krobom Community for a fitting school building to attract teachers to teach the children in the community have been unsuccessful.
Academic activities are intermittently disrupted during rains as the school is closed down and the pupils asked to go home.
Apart from the educational challenges, Twumso-Krobom community lacks potable water, exposing both children and adults to water-borne diseases.
The plights of the residents have been worsened by the activities of illegal miners who are still operating in the area as their only source of water has been polluted.
Poverty level in the area is high as crops continue to rot in farms due to poor road network and absence of a bridge on River Apram which residents must cross to Akyem Techiman and Akyem Prankese to sell their farm produce.
An opinion leader in the community, Elder Philip Tetteh Ologo, told the DAILY HERITAGE that sometimes the community struggles to carry pregnant women with complications and sick people to cross the river, particularly when the river overflows its banks.
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