The headteacher for Boankra M/A Primary and JHS in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region has bemoaned the low enrolment of pupils in the school despite having all the necessary infrastructure.

With standard school blocks and quality teachers, the school which should have over 200 students now boasts of only 97 pupils.

Headteacher, Kwadwo Frimpong, says parents in the community prioritize farming with their wards over their education.

Boankra is a farming community in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region.

The community’s basic and junior high school with all the necessary infrastructure, should accommodate over 200 students. However, the total population of the school is far less than that.

According to the headteacher of the school, Kwadwo Frimpong, parents prefer farming with their wards to enrolling them in school.

“Since I came here as headteacher, I have tried my best to make sure some children are in school but I have noticed that over here, the parents prefer sending their wards to the farm instead of school,” he said.

Mr. Frimpong says although the school has had intensive engagements with the community, it still records low enrollment.

“We use several mediums to get parents to understand education. Through community engagements, several announcements and we have even established a committee responsible for such engagements but there is no improvement,” he indicated.

A resident who spoke to JoyNews on his way to the farm said the current economic challenges compel parents to send their wards to the farm.

“It is all about money. Some parents don't have money including myself. I want to send my child to school but we don't have money.

"Government school is free but the things we have to buy alone is another issue on its own that is why some parents don't send their wards to school,” she added.

Boankra Odikro, Nana Kwaku Nyamaa Ababio, appealed to community members to enroll their wards in the school to avert breeding hooligans in the community.

“The children in this community are stubborn. They gamble a lot because they don't go to school. I plead with parents to talk to their children because we need them in school,” he said.