Ban on motorbike riding said to threaten education in Bawku
The ban on motorbike riding by male riders in the Bawku Municipality is hampering the smooth development of education in the Municipality.
The ban which was placed about four years ago as part of measures to reduce crime, prevent chaos and promote peace in the Bawku Municipality, was later reviewed to give women the opportunity to use motorcycles, whereas their male counterparts were prohibited.
Mr. Benedict Yindol, Municipal Director of Education who disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Bawku, said the measure had contributed to the falling standards of education in the area.
Mr. Yindol said the ban had further compounded education-related challenges leading to ineffective supervision, lack of instructional supervision, poor data collection, and poor child learning achievements in the area.
According to him Circuit Supervisors find it difficult to effectively monitor teachers and school performance because motorbikes are the main means of transport that could be used to reach remote communities.
He said educational authorities including some supervisors and teachers who used motor bikes in the past to perform their official duties were now forced to rely on the GES vehicles which sometimes broke down. As a result, circuit supervisors and teachers who perform their duties far and within the municipality are not able to go to their post on time to supervise or teach, he added.
He said although bicycles could be the closest alternative, it was next to impossible to ride bicycles to the very distant remote communities where the services of educational workers were needed most.
Mr. Yindol said the area had eleven supervisors and that out of the number, only four were women who were allowed to ride motorbikes, reiterating that the ban had made it difficult for the Directorate to undertake effective monitoring and supervision.
He indicated that the area had 289 basic schools with 116 Kindergartens, 115 primary schools and 54 Junior High Schools, adding that these schools had been located at dispersed communities making it impossible for supervisors to go on foot or mount bicycles to supervise.
The Municipal Director said the Directorate had three vehicles but they were always not in good condition to carry supervisors around to do their work effectively.
He added that staff members who had private cars had to loan them out sometimes to aid supervisors to go round their circuits to monitor and supervise.
He mentioned that volunteers including the District Educational Oversight Committees (DEOC) and the Municipal Educational Office had offered to assist in various ways in ensuring that there was effective monitoring and supervision in the remote communities.
Source: GNA