Kumbungu: DCE Tells Community Without School to “Hope And Pray”

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Kumbungu district Assembly, Abdul Salaam Fatawu, left many in shock after telling residents of Kochim, a far-flung community in the district which has no school building yet hosting ten teachers  to be prayerful for external intervention.

Residents turned a grass shade put up by a Christian faith into classrooms before moving into a two structured facility built by an Iranian aid agency after building a mosque for the community.

The facility was originally intended for arabic studies but owing to governments failure to construct a school infrastructure, the community members turned it into classrooms to secure education for their children.

Children were attending schools in other nearby communities only on dry seasons and were enrolled only at the age of 6 and 11, following the bad nature of roads linking the village, which always become inaccessible during rainy seasons.

The village with more than 700 people remained isolated for decades without a single basic amenities such as water, electricity and roads.

There are ten teachers who have been in this community for nearly two years now, despite the absence of a school building, teaching about 150 children in a thatch structure put up by desperate residents who try avoiding zero interest in education among the children.

Speaking after the matter was brought to the spotlight by Starr News, the District Chief Executive strenuously insisted the assembly did not consult his outfit before posting the teachers to the community and therefore he wasn’t aware of the presence of these teachers.

“I heard about this news some time ago and visited the community. I have also crowed out to outside quarters for assistance to get a befitting school for the community to improve teaching and learning but I’m not aware the presence of ten teachers because I don’t have a copy of GES postings documents, so I can’t answer questions about GES postings in the district”.

“Let’s pray for safety of these children occupying the thatched structure put up by the residents while we wait for any external interventions to build a decent school block for the community. There are a lot of issues that cannot be done at once so let’s continue praying to God to help us tackle this issue”, the DCE responded spoke to a local radio station, Radio Justice, about the sad development.

The DCE is well known to controversy. He is currently fighting off an accusation that he drew double salary for more than eight (8) months as headteacher of a primary school in the area and District Chief Executive. Both the GES and the DCE have denied.

A member of a committee in charge of education in the Kochim community, Mumuni Yakubu says parents are worried over the uncertainty of their children’s future as more generations multiply without formal education.

He disclosed further that the youth, especially female teenagers, continue to drift out from the area to towns and cities in search of improved conditions. He said most of them eventually returned with pregnancy or serious health complications and therefore called for the immediate construction of school building in the community.

Source: Starrfmonline