School for Life calls for increased investment in rural school infrastructure

School for Life, a Ghana-based education-focused NGO, has urged for greater investment in rural school infrastructure to enhance inclusive and high-quality education for children in impoverished communities. Zulyaden Amadu, Programmes Manager at School for Life, highlighted the ongoing challenges in rural schools, including insufficient classrooms, furniture, learning materials, water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and other basic infrastructure.

These deficiencies continue to impede teaching and learning outcomes in numerous rural communities. Speaking at a media engagement in Tamale, Amadu emphasized the importance of collaboration between the organization and media houses to foster accessible, inclusive, and quality education in Northern Ghana. The event brought together representatives of media organizations across the northern region to discuss education delivery challenges and ways the media could contribute to improving access, enrollment, retention, and learning outcomes.

Amadu stressed that the media has a crucial role in exposing education inequalities and amplifying the voices of affected communities, parents, teachers, and children. Field engagements by School for Life revealed that out-of-school children are predominantly found in remote and rural areas, where poverty, inadequate infrastructure, gender-related barriers, and limited access to educational opportunities persist.

Community ownership of schools has proven beneficial in boosting enrollment and retention rates. Amadu stressed the necessity of involving communities in school governance and decision-making processes. He also advocated for the use of mother-tongue instruction to improve children's participation and learning outcomes, particularly at the foundational level.

The NGO's field work revealed teacher shortages and deployment challenges as significant concerns in certain districts, leading to high teacher-pupil ratios. Local volunteer facilitators play a crucial role in bridging learning gaps in underserved communities and could inform strategies to address teacher shortages in rural schools.

Amadu also identified teacher accommodation issues as another factor affecting contact hours in some rural communities, with teachers facing difficulties in securing appropriate housing near their schools. He urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) to strengthen teacher deployment and consider decentralised teacher postings to enable districts and communities to effectively respond to local teacher shortages.

Additionally, Amadu highlighted inadequate WASH facilities, particularly the limited availability of separate facilities for boys and girls, stating that such gaps could impact children's safety, dignity, and regular attendance at school. Physical accessibility to classrooms, especially for children with disabilities, remained a challenge in some schools, and he called for greater support through social protection programs to ensure children with disabilities can access and remain in school.

Amadu also called for stronger community engagement in school governance, increased support for children with disabilities, expanded investment in rural infrastructure, and strengthened gender-responsive interventions as part of efforts to enhance inclusive education. Participants at the media engagement pledged their commitment to supporting education, particularly in deprived communities, and to using their platforms to raise public awareness and accountability surrounding the challenges facing the education sector.