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The Agona West Municipal Assembly, in collaboration with the Education Directorate, has banned churches and other bodies from using classrooms as worship centers.

The move is to ensure that school infrastructure, including classroom furniture, were not mishandled by church members as damages caused became a burden on the Assembly, which had to spend money for their repair to prolong their lifespan.

Mr Evans Onomah Coleman, the Agona West Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said it was regrettable to observe that most of the tables and chairs in the classrooms, provided by the Assembly, got broken early due to their constant usage by the churches.

The MCE said this when he presented 245 furniture to 29 selected schools during a ceremony at the Agona West Assembly premises at Swedru in the Central Region.

The furniture included teachers tables, single and dual desks, library chairs, book shelves, drawer cabinets, visitors chairs, notice boards, and tables and chairs for the lower and upper primary.

The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) handed over the furniture to the Assembly to be distributed to the schools for quality teaching and learning.

Mr Coleman said the Assembly and the Ghana Education Service (GES) were not trying to subvert the preaching of the Word of God.

He said the Government, under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, had prioritised education to become one of the best to promote human resource development in the country.

The introduction of the Free Senior High School, one of the pro-poor government policies, was to help break the barrier between the poor and rich in gaining access to secondary education, he noted.

Government would continue to pursue good policies and programmes to ensure quality education for the youth, Mr Coleman said.

The maintenance culture had become a major problem in state institutions, he said, and cautioned school heads to ensure that furniture i were well maintained.

Mr Ishmael Nana Ogyefo, the Agona West Municipal Coordinating Director, said the Assembly was determined to ensure that schools in the area were equipped with the best resources to assist in teaching and learning for the best results.

Mr Bismark Ofei, the Agona West Director of Education, who received the items on behalf of the GES, commended the Assembly for the presentation and called on the churches to refrain from using the classrooms as the GES had, since the COVID-19 pandemic, banned their use as places for worship.

He said the deficit in tables and chairs at the lower and upper primary level was about 1,600 and that the 245 pieces of furniture donated would go a long way to minimise the problem with the assurance that they would be distributed equitably to the selected schools.