Students of the Sandema Senior high School in the Bulsa District of the upper East Region are living in abandoned structures described by authorities as “death trap”.
With a student population of 1,962 and 83 teaching and none teaching staffs. The School offers all six courses: Home Economics, Visual Arts, General Arts, Agriculture, Science and Business but lacks the needed infrastructure to propel learning.
The Assistant Headmaster of the School, Mr. Kingsley Azantilow who took this reporter round the school lamented about the condition of the school.
“Of the 83 staff, the school accommodates only 16 teachers, we have only 42 classrooms requiring 24 more to meet the growing demands,” he said.
“The students eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in batches and this puts pressure on time for studies,” he revealed.
“The classrooms have no toilets close by and this makes it very difficult for the students anytime they have to use the toilet during classes,” he said.
“With the exception of the masters’ bungalows, there is only one mechanized borehole which serves the Kitchen and the administration block with none for the boys and girls dormitories,” he added.
On accommodation, the Assistant Headmaster expressed disgust at what he called “helpless and hopeless situation for the students”.
Obviously dejected, he said most of the structures here are death traps.
“These girls sleep in very packed rooms, heavily congested but uncompleted,” he said.
“At the Mandela, Azantilow and Autuga houses, the girls even sleep in uncompleted toilets and bathrooms” he lamented.
Adding that, the Abakisi house which also houses students from a Youth Centre is a death trap. “This structure has not seen refurbishment since it was built in Nkrumah’s time”
The extremely shattered Assistant Headmaster called on the Ministry of Education to intervene since the plight of the school is inimical to learning.
“This school deserves better to be able to compete,” Mr. Azantilow concluded.
Source: ghnewsonline
