There are only 27 teachers in the Yunyoo circuit, teaching in the 23 schools in the area, which hampers the delivery of quality education.

Kpanlorinaa Dahamani Biiyoukpow, Chief of Kpanlori, a community in the Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo District who expressed the concern said the lack of trained teachers was affecting enrollment.

He said, Even the 27 teachers manning the 23 schools in the area, about half of them are untrained and that it was a very worrying situation among the traditional authorities in the area, which needs to be addressed."

Kpanlorinaa Biiyoukpow expressed the concern when Alhaji A. B. A. Fuseini, Deputy Northern Regional Minister performed a sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of the Namong Senior High School as part of the first batch of governments 50 community model schools out of the 200 across the country.

The Chief said, These days children refuse to go to school with the excuse that there are no teachers to teach them. This has greatly affected enrollment as most parents prefer to go to farm with their children instead of allowing them to be idling.

Kpanlorinaa Biiyoukpow said it was suicidal for the children to be out of school, adding, the children were the future leaders and needed to be educated.

Alhaji Fuseini appealed to the chiefs and people of the area to be united to ensure peace and that it was only when they maintained peace that government could serve them with more development projects.

Mr Seidu Dauda, Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo District Director of Education said most teachers refused postings to the area due to the frequent ethnic clashes and promised that the directorate would send teachers to the area if they maintained peace.

The directorate is aware that most teachers left the schools during the disturbances and others refused to come and work here. They can only come back if you assure the directorate and act towards ensuring harmony, he said.

Mr Dauda said through the Ghana Partnership for Education Grant (GPEG) the district had taken delivery of 511 dual desks while the same number would be brought to the directorate for onward distribution.

He said the area through GPEG had procured a total of 400 bicycles to be distributed to girls who walked long distances to school and appealed to government to re-roof some 32 schools whose roof were ripped off by rain storm to ensure effective teaching and learning.

GNA