The National Programmes Manager of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition, Festus Longmatey, has revealed some public basic schools are turning pupils away due to lack of basic infrastructure.

According to him, in some areas, the lack of desks for instance means that public basic schools are unable to enroll as many pupils as they ought to, thereby increasing the number of children without access to education.

He noted that in areas like the Savannah region, about 43% of children of school going age are out of school as a result.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he said that without quick and decisive government intervention, the rapidly increasing phenomenon could affect human resource development in the country, further impeding national growth.

“You know most of the schools that we visited across the country also reveals the situation that my brother is talking about. A lot of them lack basic infrastructure for students to comfortably engage in teaching and learning with their teachers.

“Just yesterday for instance, I’m yet to follow up on a case where there is this mom who is complaining of not being able to send her two children to school because of lack of furniture for the children to use in the school. So the school basically, they’re refusing to admit these children just for the fact that they don’t have furniture to accommodate these children.

“And they’re asking the mother of these children to provide the furniture, and this is someone who also doesn’t have the means to even be able to support her children with acquiring the furniture for them so basically these children are being denied education through no fault of theirs,” he said.