The Head teacher of the Asuboi Municipal Assembly (MA) Primary and Junior High Schools in the Offinso Municipality, Mr Emmanuel Nyamekye, has appealed to the government to address the acute shortage of accommodation for teachers in the town. He stressed that the problem was seriously affecting the morale of teachers. According to him, an eight-unit bungalow built by the Assembly for teachers was currently being shared by 20 teachers and their families, a situation which he said was creating untold hardships for them and thereby, hampering effective teaching and learning. Mr Nyamekye made the appeal when the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Ms Anima Wilson, visited the school as part of a fact finding tour following an outbreak of skin diseases and river blindness in the community as a result of an infestation of black flies in the area. He said the provision of additional accommodation facilities to cater for the teachers and their families would not only be an incentive to attract and retain quality teachers, but would also motivate and galvanise them to offer their best. According to him, since Asuboi was in a deprived area which made it least attractive to teachers, the acute accommodation problem was making matters worse. Ms Wilson, who is also the acting Offinso South Municipal Chief Executive, promised to immediately consult with the assembly on how best to assist the Asuboi teachers to deal with the accommodation problem they faced. "Rural schools and pupils need every support compared to their counterparts in the urban areas as they face several disadvantages. We want to bridge the gap between rural and urban dwellers that is why we are concentrating on rural infrastructure," Ms Wilson said. She, however, advised the schoolchildren to persevere despite all the challenges and deprivation they faced in their villages. Ms Wilson cited the childhood story of Ghana's current Ambassador to the United States of America, Mr Daniel Ohene Agyekum, who she said, had to walk from Juaso to Adumasa, a distance of about seven kilometres on a daily basis and sometimes barefooted, to attend middle school, to motivate the children. According to the Deputy Regional Minister, the government was working to lessen the plight of rural dwellers that was why the free school uniforms and textbooks initiative was being implemented. Ms Wilson gave the assurance that all pupil in rural communities who were yet to receive their free uniforms and textbooks would be catered for in due course. Source: Daily Graphic