St. Peter’s Primary and Kindergarten school in Lingbinsi-Daboya, Savannah Region, Ghana currently serves around 70 surrounding villages as one of the only, highest-enrollment education institutions In the region. There is an average of 24.9% literacy rate among the population of approximately 29,000 with over 50% of the population being children of school-attending age.

Father Peter Akomanyi Tawiah needs donations to make the renovation of this dilapidated school possible. A project write-up with specifics and more videos/photos is available upon request.

In summary, the local Priest is requesting USD 22,000.00 which would be used to completely renovate this school and make it safer for all staff and pupils, as well as enable more pupils to attend.

All donations will be sent to Father Peter Akomanyi Tawiah, with regular reports posted of donations received/amount remaining.

HISTORY OF THE LOCAL PARISH:

St. Peter’s Parish, Lingbinsi was established in 1996. The area covered by the Parish has a population of 29,000 people scattered over 74 villages. Out of this number, the Catholic presence is felt in 20 villages. The above population is made up of 9 different ethnic groups: The Tampluma, Gonja, Hanga, Mamprusi, Dagomba, Frafra, Ewe, Akan and Fulani. 

SOCIO-ECONOMIC, CULTURAL AND POLITICAL:

The area lies in the savannah zone and is characterized by two basic climatic seasons: the rainy season (May to October) and the dry season (November to April). Because of the rain pattern most of the farming activities are carried around during the rainy season. Crops cultivated include yam, maize, cassava, guinea corn, millet, groundnuts, and beans. A considerable number of the farmers are into maize and groundnut farming. A few of the inhabitants are into poultry and animal rearing, mainly cattle, sheep, goats etc. Sometimes these animals pose a threat to other farmers as they eat up many crops and destroy farms.

During the rainy season, the majority of the communities are inaccessible. Feeder roads are non-existent. The main means of transport are tractors, motorbikes, bicycles, and canoes to help carry people across some of the rivers and streams. As such, the parish is cut off from the rest of the Region and the Diocese as far as trade and development are concerned.

The illiteracy and the above economic situation contribute to making poverty an observable situation in the Parish. This cuts across all areas of life, posing a big challenge to the human and spiritual development of the people.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:

According to the North Gonja District Assembly statistics of 2020, of the population within the parish, 24.9% are literate and 75.1% are non-literate. Out of the meager literate population, 71% represents the males and only 29% for the females. The statistics also reveal that the average household size in the Parish is 9 persons per household. Children constitute the largest proportion of the household structure accounting for 57.2% of the population. However, only 24.6% of these children are currently attending school. The situation is such due to the negative influence of traditional cultural norms. Boys are needed on the farm while the girls are needed to care for the younger children and perform household duties while the mother is away looking for water, firewood, vegetables, or burning charcoal to sustain the family. Girls are betrothed at an early age to join their much older husbands upon puberty or shortly thereafter.

The government of Ghana introduced the concept of FCUBE for every school-age child to gain literacy. This program was launched in 1996 but its implementation started in 2005. The main policy goal of the FCUBE program was to provide the opportunity for every school-aged child in Ghana to receive quality basic education.

The parish community (St. Peter’s Parish) in connection with this objective of the government of Ghana and in line with SDG goal 4 which states, “to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” with its meager resources built a Kindergarten/Primary School. It is a three-classroom facility to help in the education of the little kids of this small village community.

So, with this, the Diocese seeks to improve upon the existing Catholic School structures/infrastructures especially those in the remote areas like Lingbinsi where access to basic quality education is limited.

Through these educational policies and targets, the diocese and the parish will be able to intensify its advocacy against the cultural practices that encourage child school dropout in remote areas like Lingbinsi.

However, the nature and state of the school building make it exceedingly difficult for teaching and learning activities for both teachers and pupils, especially during the rainy season.

Even though some repairs and maintenance of the building have always been done over the years, the school building is still found in a dilapidated state:

• The walls and floors of the rooms are rough and cracked.
• Two of the classrooms can hardly be used because the wooden supports used for the roof are rotten and there are holes in the corrugated sheet metal, leading to leakages whenever it rains,
• Some of the doors and windows are in an unbelievably bad state and can hardly be used.
• The surroundings get muddy whenever it rains.
• There are live electrical wires that had to be run through a hole at the base of a wall that poses a considerable danger when water is on the floor.
• The headteacher’s and teachers’ staff areas are nothing to write home about

The teachers and pupils do not feel safe in this dilapidated structure consequently affecting academic work seriously.

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION AND TARGET GROUP:

The target group is kindergarten/primary school-going-age pupils. The total population of the pupils from the kindergarten to primary is 470. The males comprise 250 while the girls are 232.

A young child’s brain is full of innate potential and the early years offer an irreplaceable window of opportunity to set a path towards success in primary school and later in life. Quality Early Childhood Education generates a positive sequence of learning while lack of access to pre-primary education widens gaps and restricts opportunities. So, children like those of this community who fall behind at an early age often never catch up with their peers, perpetuating cycles of underachievement and high school dropout rates that continue to harm vulnerable children into their youth.

The choice of this group is to offer these little kids the opportunity to access quality education. This will move forward to, if not eradicating, reducing the illiteracy rate in the future. In addition, these are just little kids who still have the chance to make better life choices in terms of their future if offered basic quality education.

Lastly, Children constitute the largest proportion of the household structure accounting for 57.2% of the population. However, only 24.6% of these children are currently attending school. Also, it is hoped that at the end of the execution of this project, the Girl-child education enrollment will be enhanced further in the community.