In an effort to address the frequent devastation of educational facilities brought on by unanticipated natural disasters, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has suggested creating a special emergency fund.
The minister said this unique money will be used only to quickly rebuild school buildings damaged by fires, rainstorms, or other natural disasters.
Following a terrible fire that recently destroyed the girls’ dormitory at Labone Senior High School in Accra, the minister made this request.
The incident, which resulted in the displacement of numerous pupils and substantial damage to school property, underscored the pressing necessity for a systematic response mechanism to handle such emergencies, according to the minister.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the impacted school to determine the extent of the damage, Haruna Iddrisu said that an emergency intervention fund was essential because it would guarantee that reconstruction work is completed quickly and avoid protracted disruptions to classes.
“I can’t put a number to the amount of money needed for renovations, but be assured that Labone Secondary School and Northern School of Business in Tamale and a school in Akrokere in the Ashanti region, which was also hit by a rainstorm, will benefit from our emergency intervention.
“But what this wakes me up to is that government must have a dedicated emergency fund under the Ghana Education Service budget to be able to respond timeously to some of these unpredictable natural and human occurrences.”