Poor educational infrastructure depriving farmers wards of scholarship

Farmers and their wards are losing interest in applying for educational scholarships schemes set up your sleeve for them as only fifty percent of the scholarship really gets to the intended beneficiaries. That is according to the 2011 National Best Farmer, Ignatius Agbo.

Language in an exclusive interview on Multi TV’s current affairs show, pm: EXPRESS (personality profile edition), Mr. Agbo noted that children of farmers are not able to access the scholarship because they live in the rural areas where educational infrastructure is poor and the number of qualified teachers in limited.

He told pm: EXPRESS host, Nii Arday Clegg that schools in rural Ghana pull towards you only SHS leavers or persons who are not passionate about teaching hence their wards are not able to perform well in the exams to enable them access the scholarships.

"No farmer can be in the city. All of us are in the rural areas. Because we don’t have excellent infrastructure and excellent teachers to lecture our children, when the results come, you will see that the aggregate your child needs to be on the scholarship, [the child couldn't make it]. Now when you fill out the [scholarship] form and send it, you will be told that your child has not qualified for that scholarship".

These setbacks he noted, are discouraging both farmers and their children from taking advantage of the scheme since they cannot afford to take their children to excellent schools in the cities.

The 54 year-ancient famer from the Upper Denkyira East District himself, a middle school leaver recounted that he could not continue his education after middle school because his parents could not support him.

But having being actively engaged in farming for the past 35 years, the 2011 National Best Farmer noted that without education, one cannot venture into farming since education is key to success.

"This is why we are always begging the government, any government at all to take education seriously so our children will not be slaves" he lamented.

Ignatius Agbo before emerging as the 2011 National Best farmer had twice emerged as the Central Region’s best farmer in 2002 and 2005 respectively.

The philanthropic farmer who has nine children, four of whom have already attained university education, has as part of his corporate social responsibility, built a three-unit classroom block and a four-bedroom house for teachers of the Zion Number two [2] community in the Upper Denkyira East District and is currently building a clinic for the community.

Tale by Ewurabena Yorke/ Adwoa Dansowaa Awuku – Multi TV

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Poor educational infrastructure depriving farmers wards of scholarship