The Dilapidated Classroom
Barely a week after the wall of the ramshackle Kwame Nkrumah Basic School in Accra collapsed and killed a head porter (Kayayo) and her son, Daily Guide has discovered another school that is a disaster in waiting.
The Ofosu Battor M/A Basic School which runs a kindergarten and primary system is located in the Nkwanta South District of the Oti region.
The School which has over 150 pupils can be described as a school under tree as the only three-unit classroom block can fall apart and collapse any moment.
According to the head teacher, Frank Nimo, the school which was established by the community in 1974, thus 45 years ago has not seen any renovation or additions in infrastructure.
The existing ramshackle structure which houses the kindergarten and part of the primary school is a mud structure with roofing sheets.
It has unsecured windows and doors with cracks all over.
The walls which are gradually detaching from the pillars of the structure appear to have not been painted for decades.
Apart from the dilapidated nature of the school block, the five teachers, including the head teacher have had to run part of the school under trees on the compound.
According to Mr. Nimo, the situation is contributing to truancy by the children.
He explained that the attrition rate in the school is high due to the poor infrastructure.
More so, since the main occupation of the area is farming and fishing, parents preferred engaging their children on the farms and river than school.
A teacher, Dominic Benyanase said the lack of adequate classes, staff common room, an ICT lab, a library and teaching and learning materials was making it difficult for them to provide quality education for the children.
Togbe Kwame Azumah III, a chief of the area together with the Teachers and Head Teacher lamented that several appeals to the District Education Directorate and the Assembly has yielded no results.
They therefore pleaded with government, NGOs, faith based organisations and philanthropists to come to their aid.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)