Wa: Children in Oli denied access to pre-primary education

Children of school-going age at Oli, a deprived community in the Wa West District, are unable to access pre-primary education due to the lack of a school in the community.

The children in the community could only start formal education at the age of 10 and older since they had to trek several kilometres to other communities to access education.

This came to light when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the community to ascertain some pertinent challenges the people faced.

Madam Salamatu Imori, a resident of the Oli community, told the GNA in an interview that the situation discouraged many children in the community from attending school.

“Our community is isolated and hidden, so we are not getting any development projects here. We don't have a school here, so our children must walk to Gbache for school.

“A little child cannot walk that distance, so before a child can go there, the child must be about 10 years or above”, she explained.

While recognising the importance of education, Madam Imori indicated that pre-primary training was important in the child's brain development and learning ability.

Mr Sabogu Tapori, another resident, said the plight of the children was worsened by a stream that cut the Gbache community from Oli making it difficult for the children to go to school during the rainy season.

“If we have a (Kindergarten) here our children can be attending and when they are to graduate to primary then they will be going to Gbache, because from here to Gbache is very far,” Mr Tapori said.

The residents, therefore, appealed to the government and other stakeholders in the education sector to come to their aid by providing the community with a pre-primary school to whip up the interest of the children in formal education.

This is a sharp contrast between Ghana's efforts toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) four, which required member states to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”, by 2030, and guarantee access to education at all levels.

Target 4.1 of the SDGs sought to “ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.”

Target 4.2 also required member states to “ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education to get ready for primary education,” by 2030.

It, therefore, required that the government of Ghana and its development partners ought to beef up their efforts of ensuring access to pre-primary education, especially in the rural and deprived communities if this goal is to be achieved.

GNA