Daboya, North Gonja District, – November 1, 2025
The Member of Parliament for Daboy/Mankarigu Constituency, Lawyer Alhaji Mahama Shaibu Obei, has convened a stakeholder dialogue to tackle the worrying decline in academic performance across schools in the constituency. The meeting, held at the Assemblies of God Church Hall, brought together education experts, teachers, parents, traditional and religious authorities, political actors, and students to deliberate on practical solutions to uplift learning outcomes.
The theme for the education dialogue was ‘Igniting Excellence: A Collective Action for Quality Education in North Gonja Through Renewed Parenting, Teaching, and Learning’.
In his opening remarks, the MP expressed deep concern over the falling pass rates in recent national examinations, describing the trend as a wake-up call for collective action.
“We cannot sit idle while our children’s educational future slips away,” he said. “It is our shared duty—leaders, teachers, parents, local authorities, and students alike—to guarantee that our children receive quality education that equips them for the challenges ahead.”
The MP revealed that by close of the year 2026, they will build JHS blocks for communities with long distance in-between them without JHS. Noting that sometimes it’s not the fault of these children to terminate the transition of moving from basic six to seven. You don’t expect a primary six school child to get motivated by walking long kilometers to have a JHS education.
Participants identified several causes behind the decline, including inadequate teaching and learning resources, low teacher motivation, weak parental supervision, poor teacher accommodation, poor teacher rationalization and poor school infrastructure, among others.
Education stakeholders proposed a range of interventions: boosting funding for schools, improving teacher training and welfare, enhancing parental engagement, and investing in classroom facilities and learning materials, community engagements, and quarterly review of targets.
The MP pledged his commitment to champion these issues at both the district and national levels, assuring that education remains a top priority on his development agenda. He also promised to collaborate with the District Education Directorate, the North Gonja District, local authorities to monitor progress on agreed recommendations.
A key resolution from the meeting was the formation of a Constituency Education Committee, a multi-stakeholder body that will track implementation of proposed actions and sustain dialogue on education development.
The event concluded on a hopeful note, with participants applauding the MP’s initiative.
As one teacher remarked, “This dialogue gives us hope that education in our constituency can bounce back stronger if we all play our part.”
Abdulai Zulkaninu
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