Our schools are dead

Five-year-old Rita Amponsah, a kindergarten pupil, is already sweating from the many hours of walking the dusty road.

Rita and other children from the Mia W'ani village must walk a four (4) kilometer distance every day to attend the Koransang Presby Basic School, the only complete basic school in the Electoral Area.

As I watched through the camera, I wondered why the children carried plastic chairs on their heads.

Even more worrying were the Okada Riders who passed by the kids occasionally along the stretch.

Then I imagined the potential danger to the lives of these little ones in the middle of nowhere.

But when the cameras finally entered the community, the realities of rural education in this part of the country became clear.

Church Drums compete for space with school children as pupils bend over benches during teaching and learning.

Meanwhile, their classroom block, now in ruins, is just waiting to kill anybody around.

Almost two years after its collapse, authorities of the Suhum Municipal Assembly have refused to do anything about it.

That is why the teachers, parents, and community leaders could not hide their frustrations:

"We cannot take this anymore. An NGO offered to help us, but the MCE turned down the request they should not wait for any child to die before they take action."

In this rural documentary, journalist Abubakar Sarpong explores the desperations facing basic school pupils from neglected communities in the Suhum Municipality.

Watch the video here: