By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
The cluster of public basic schools at Asuofua in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District in the Ashanti Region has been hit by a twin disaster of a rainstorm and a fire outbreak.
This has led to the displacement of classes and the loss of valuable teaching and learning materials.
Correspondent Nicholas Osei-Wusu, who visited the schools, reports that apart from the burning of teaching and learning materials by the fire caused by thunder, the lives of both pupils and attendants at the Block ‘D’ KG are in danger, as their classroom has developed visible cracks with part of the roof ripped off, requiring urgent attention by all stakeholders.
The Asuofua D/A Cluster of Basic Schools is made up of four streams of pre-school, primary, and junior high schools serving the entire population of the Asuofua township and surrounding communities in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District of the Ashanti Region.
It has a pupil population of about 5,000 but very old and limited classroom infrastructure that has barely seen any renovation since its establishment in the 1970s.
This state of the physical structures has rendered them highly vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather and prone to giving in to the least rainstorm.
About two years ago, GBC reported on a similar incident when some of the classrooms collapsed, while others had their roofs ripped off after rainfall.
It took the then Member of Parliament for the area, Benito Owusu Bio, to re-roof some of the buildings, while the others that totally collapsed remain at ground zero today.
The latest twin disaster involved the ripping off of the entire roof of some classrooms at the JHS Block ‘A’, displacing pupils who are now learning under trees.
Incidentally, the Teachers’ Common Room attached also caught fire from thunder during the rainstorm on Monday, December 1, 2023.
But for the swift intervention of some teachers who were having a meeting after school, a more serious outcome could have been reported.
The KG Block of Block ‘D’ has also been rendered almost a death trap for both the children and attendants, as it has not only been partly ripped off but has also developed cracks.
The Headmistress of Block ‘A’ JHS, Mrs. Charity Nseibo, said the situation has rendered both teachers and pupils unsafe and forced to learn under unfriendly conditions.
Asked how safe the children are, Mrs. Nseibo responded, “We don’t feel safe. We’re in the hands of God.”
“We don’t have any options. Students are now under trees and the teachers are also under trees because there’s no place for them to sit. When we realize it’s going to rain, we’ll close them to go home,” she said.
The twin fire and rainstorm have occurred at a time the schools are preparing for their end-of-term examination in a week’s time.
The affected classes have been compelled to learn under trees, even as the rains have set in after the short dry spell.
The Atwima Nwabiagya North District Director of Education, Frank Duah Boateng, who had visited the school to familiarise himself with the disaster at the time GBC arrived, expressed serious concern about the inadequate support from major stakeholders of the school in addressing the challenges and the bad state of the buildings, which he noted is partly responsible for the recurring disasters.
“The structures, you can see for yourself, are a little too old. The school was built in the 1970s and now caters for an enrolment of 5,000, and we need some renovation in the school, at least to change the old roofing and strengthen the ones we can. If we renovate it, it would help us prevent the occurrence of such situations,” the director suggested.
Among the property destroyed by the twin disasters are attendance registers, English and mathematics textbooks, pupils’ workbooks, lesson notebooks, pupils’ notebooks, and classroom furniture.
The Headmistress, Mrs. Charity Nseibo, appealed to all stakeholders to come to the aid of the school urgently to save the situation.
“Now we don’t have any options than to call on all and sundry to come and help,” she appealed.
Already, some of the classes are experiencing extreme congestion, with some accommodating as many as 92 pupils instead of the standard 45 per class.
Incidentally, a two-storey classroom block initiated by GETFund, whose construction started about five years ago, has been abandoned and has now been taken over by weeds.
The education authorities are appealing to the government to complete the project to address part of the overcrowding to guarantee quality teaching and learning at the school.
