More than 1,400 pupils in the Lawra Municipality are expected to benefit from improved learning conditions following the donation of 1,010 desks by the Member of Parliament for Lawra, Bede Ziedeng, and the Lawra Municipal Assembly.

The intervention is aimed at ending years of severe furniture shortages that forced some lower primary pupils to study while seated or lying on bare classroom floors.

According to JoyNews Upper West Regional Correspondent Rafiq Salam, the desks are expected to address the furniture deficit affecting about 1,470 pupils across the municipality.

The shortage of classroom furniture has long been a challenge in schools across Ghana, but education authorities in Lawra say the situation has become particularly difficult for lower primary pupils.

Municipal Director of Education, Francis Cudjoe, said the lack of desks had become a daily challenge for both teachers and learners.

In response, Mr Ziedeng and the Municipal Chief Executive, Soyelle Cecilia Nuratu, collaborated to provide 1,010 dual and mono desks to schools in the area.

The donation includes 460 dual desks provided by the MP and 550 mono desks supplied by the Municipal Assembly. The intervention is regarded as the largest single furniture donation received by the municipality in recent years.

Mr Ziedeng said the intervention forms part of efforts to improve educational infrastructure in the constituency.

“I am aware of the lack of furniture in some of our schools. It is precisely because of that that I am providing this intervention,” he said.

The Lawra legislator also noted that although Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies are permitted to use portions of the District Assemblies Common Fund for school furniture, existing allocations have not been enough to meet demand.

Mrs Nuratu, who previously worked as a teacher, described the intervention as essential to improving learning conditions for pupils.

“It is their right, and they deserve to enjoy it,” she said.

Receiving the desks on behalf of the schools, Mr Cudjoe expressed appreciation for the support and assured that the furniture would be properly maintained.

“We promise to take very good care of them,” he said. “This support will go a long way in improving teaching and learning in our schools.”

The intervention is expected to significantly improve classroom conditions and help create a more conducive learning environment for pupils across the municipality.