News

‘Private school education in Ghana likely to face problems’

The Acting National President of the Ghana Association of Private Schools (GAPS), Mr Domastus Tuurosong , said private school education in the country was likely to face serious problems if urgent steps were not taken to support their administrative operations.

Speaking in an interview with The Spectator, he said it would be extremely difficult for private schools to operate at half capacity class- sizes to help curtail further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He explained that such a situation demanded that more teachers were employed to assist, but was quick to ask,” How will the school authorities generate enough money to pay the salaries of the additional staff?”

He lamented that unlike corporations which had commenced operations when some lockdown restrictions were relaxed, schools remained closed until recently when the final-year students were required to resume classes pending their examinations, a situation where school fees would not be paid.

” We are confronted with the problem of how to generate funds to pay the salaries of teachers who are preparing the final-year students ,” he said.

Mr Tuurosong said though the schools were provided with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), these items which were used frequently could not last, and the schools had to supplement.

He also lamented that private schools could not afford the construction of fence walls around their premises to prevent unauthorised persons from intruding their premises to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Mr Tuurosong has appealed to the government to make it possible for private schools to benefit from the stimulus package for small and medium scale enterprises in the country.

He said unlike other businesses which generated income for their sustenance, it was unfortunate that schools did not, hence the precarious situation in which they operated.

By Raymond Kyekye

News

Swallowed by the Sea! …Keta’s coastal lines, landmarks, efforts to preserve heritage

Fragments of a once inhabited home now lie submerged, swallowed by the encroaching waters along Keta’s coast(1)

The Atlantic Ocean is no longer a distant blue horizon for the people of Keta.

It now circles around their doorsteps, uninvited, unrelenting, pulling down walls and other structures, erasing memories, and threatening lives.

Hovering precariously between the restless sea and the Keta Lagoon, this once-thriving coastal town is slowly being obliterated.

A once standing home now lies in ruins, claimed by the relentless waves along the shore of Keta a stark reminder of the growing threat of coastal erosion.

Salt water has become both a physical and metaphorical threat, dissolving the town’s past as fast as it claims its future.

Madam Aku Atitso, 62, lives in a crumbling former Prisons Service quarters – one of the few structures still standing on the eroded stretch of Queen Street.

The remains of the old Ghana Prisons quarters in Keta, slowly succumbing to the advancing sea, evidence of the unyielding coastal erosion reshaping the shoreline.

She sits quietly at the entrance, preparing a modest breakfast for herself and her granddaughter.

The air is thick with salt and silence. “The sea took everything,” she says softly. “My husband’s nets, our mattress, our memories all gone overnight.” Her voice trembles. “This place too is dying. But it’s the last place with a roof over my head.”

A few metres away, Aunty Esinam, 79, watches the sea from a low stool beside a wooden shelter. Her eyes do not blink. “That spot,” she points, “used to be someone’s living room, a whole family lived there”.

Efo Agbeko stands atop the sea defence wall, pointing toward the vast Atlantic Ocean, marking the spot where buildings once stood before the sea claimed them

It’s not just homes that are vanishing. Landmarks that anchored Keta’s cultural identity are disappearing one after another. The once-imposing Fort Prinzenstein, a haunting relic of the transatlantic slave trade is now more of a ruin than a monument.

Fragments of a once inhabited home now lie submerged, swallowed by
the encroaching waters along Keta’s
coast.

The colonial-era Bremen factory, the old cinema where generations of children once laughed at flickering black-and-white films is also gone.

Queen Street, once the town’s bustling backbone, is now a watery corridor choked with debris.

Standing atop a section of the sea defence wall, 69-year-old retired teacher Efo Kwasi Agbeko surveys what remains.

“The first police station is mostly gone,” he says, gesturing part of the building stuck in the sea sand, only ruins and a few rooms remain.

Children play on a fishing canoe grounded in the sand a moment of joy amidst the quiet rhythms of coastal life.

“This town is fighting, but the sea is winning,” he said.

Even the Cape St. Paul Lighthouse, Keta’s historic sentinel, leans perilously toward the water, and fishermen say holes in the shore are opening more frequently, sometimes every week.

That leaves a thick cloud of uncertainty hanging around the historic town of Keta.

Once upon a time, it was a vibrant town noted for business but currently left with ruins with a few of the residents watching in awe the sea’s devastation.

From: Geoffrey Kwame Buta, Keta, Volta Region

News

Ghanaians climax Easter with fun-filled activities

• Awards given for outstanding performance

Christians around the world and other faith based groups last Monday climaxed the Easter celebration with a number of fun-filled outdoor and indoor activities.

With streets empty, fun seekers stormed church premises where picnics were held while others partied in many ways.

Others spent the day at the various beaches and music and film shows occupying the others.

At the churches, participants engaged in bible reading, football, volleyball, playing cards, table tennis, horse racing, bouncing castles, swimming and oware.