Most teachers refuse to accept postings in rural communities due to poor conditions.
Mensah Kwame, a teacher at Lonpe MA Primary School in the Northern Region’s Nanumba North District, disagrees.
Mensah Kwame, a 36-year-old teacher, is looking beyond the obvious challenges to help rural students.
However, as principal, the burden is even greater.
He’d have to travel an extremely long distance on his motorcycle to get to school on time. However, if this mode of transportation is unavailable, he may have to devise alternative transportation.
After a 9-kilometer ride offered by a Good Samaritan returning from the hospital with his wife, he would have to swim across the Dakar River and then continue for three kilometers.
These difficulties, combined with a lack of furniture and textbooks, make the situation even worse.
Mensah Kwame’s involvement with rural schools began after completing college in 2009; he has since moved from one school to another and admits that teaching at Lonpe is both frustrating and dangerous.
“Teaching in rural communities is not an easy task especially as I have to swim across this river everyday to get to my school. My family is very worried,” he said.
“The pupils are at a huge disadvantage because I have to teach all the classes from Basic One to Six and this is stressful.”
Education observers have maintained that the uneven distribution of resources between urban and rural areas must be addressed, and the final results must be reviewed.
Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Africa Education Watch Ghana, has been working hard in this area.
If anything is to change, he believes the time has come to demand concrete action on rural education.
According to a recent survey conducted by his organization, more than 42,000 teachers will leave the profession by 2021.
According to Social Education Research, at least 10,000 teachers leave the classroom each year to pursue other opportunities.
The situation continues to have an impact on teachers and students, particularly in rural areas.
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