Engage Now Africa to construct a 10-unit classroom block for struggling Navrongo Vocational Training Centre

Navrongo Vocational Training Centre, located in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region, is grappling with inadequate infrastructure, forcing students to study under difficult conditions. The school suffers from a shortage of classrooms, dormitories, furniture, toilet facilities, and a dining hall, impacting teaching, learning, and students' welfare.

Dormitories are overcrowded, with leaking roofs and no beds, leading students to sleep on mattresses directly on the floor. Female students face additional challenges as they use makeshift bathrooms with no privacy. The school lacks adequate toilet facilities, causing some students to resort to open defecation, particularly during the rainy seasons when they hide in bushes to relieve themselves.

Moreover, classrooms have inadequate furniture, forcing some students to stand and lean against walls while taking notes. The school also relies on a nearby private mechanic's workshop as a temporary dining area, where students' plates are placed on the floor. To address these infrastructure challenges, Engage Now Africa, a non-governmental organization focused on improving living conditions in deprived communities, has begun the construction of a 10-unit classroom block for the school.

Funded entirely by the ASEA Advancing Life Foundation, the project is expected to be completed within eight months. The new classroom block aims to provide additional space, enhance teaching and learning conditions, and support technical and vocational skills development. Cecilia Amankwah, Engage Now Africa's Country Director, revealed that the organization previously provided the school with a mechanized borehole.

Following further appeals from the Member of Parliament for Navrongo Central and an assessment of the school's infrastructure needs, Engage Now Africa decided to undertake additional interventions, starting with the construction of the classroom block.