EDUCATION AND LITERACY: Formal education started in Dega Hare when the first primary school was opened at Longoro in 1944.The school came as a result of a request that Koro Yaw Dagwi and his Methodist missionary friend, Samuel Kwaw Akesson, made in 1942. The first head teacher was Mr. Kwabi, a Methodist teacher-catechist from Agona Nsabaa in the Central Region of Ghana. He had to go round to plead with parents to send their children to school. Among the few children who pioneered the school were S.K. Pambo who is now the chief of Jama, John Manu, Peter Kojo and James Kagbaah. Recounting his experience, Nnaa Pambo If had this to say;I started my primary school education in 1944 when I was about 8 years at Old Longoro. It was by sheer luck for me to get this rare opportunity to enter into classroom among the first few children in the whole Mo to study. One teacher Kwabi had to solicit me seriously from my father. Things were not easy for my father to look after me in school, but I managed to complete my middle school education in 1952 at Wenchi Methodist School. According to archival records, in the 1938/39 Annual Education Report on Wenchi the ordained European Methodist Superintendent Minister in Wenchi reported that During the year under review the Mission had four Teacher-Catechists at Wenchi, Kintampo, Longoro and Techiman . It is likely that the teacher-catechist referred to was S.K. Akesson for he was at Longoro around 1937 but the school was opened in 1944. The Longoro School was later relocated to another village, Ayorya, for a number of reasons. The area suffered from an acute water shortage in the dry season. It took great efforts to fetch water and a swarm of bees competed for the Iittle that was avai lable. According to Doni-Kwame; The Longoro School did not live to see the light of day because of poverty, depravity and remoteness of the place. The school children had to walk three miles twice a day to fetch water from the Black Volta for domestic use. Hunger and disease was the lot of both teachers and pupils. There was no food and there was no market from where they could buy anything. The nearest town Kintampo, was 18 miles to be walked on foot. Parents gave little support to the school because education was seen as allegiance to Christianity. Some parents perceived it as a means of taking away their children from allegiance to the local deity. Namoa Kwasi Briama of Carpenter was one of the pioneers of the Longoro School. During an interview with him and the Jogboikoro, he testified that he left the school after primary two because of hunger and other hardships. However, Hareti Kwame Adjei of Longoro and his elders gave a different reason why the school was moved to Ayorya. According to them, the colonial District Commissioner asked that the school be moved to Ayorya which was more accessible. Koro Yaw Dagwi refused but after his death, Koro Kwasi Addae acceded to the demand of the district administration. Additional schools were established later in other parts of Dega Hare. The first primary school in North Mo was opened at Bamboi in 1948 and Jama had one in 1956. Currently, Dega people are making good efforts to encourage education and literacy among themselves. The Mo Students Union (MOSU) was initiated by the Mo students at the University of Cape Coast in 1998. They have as their motto: Ir nyu ne to a pera bigro, meaning Wake up from your sleep for the day is far spent. This has grown to embrace Mo students in other tertiary institutions in Ghana and there is now the National Mo Students Association (NAMOSA). The aims and objectives of NAMOSA include promotion of peace, education and the general development of Mo traditional area. Another means to help develop education in Dega Hare is the Jama Koro Foundation for Deg Child Education which was founded in August 2002 by Dega like Nana Kojo Pambo II and Rt Rev Felix Doni-Kwame. The vision of the foundation is to produce educated youth who can read and write, and to develop the requisite skills for socio-economic development of the area.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 12:41:02 +0000
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