Barely a week after six pupils were killed in the Central Region by a collapse of school building, another disaster looms in the Eastern Region where pupils are now studying in a near collapsed school building.
Pupils of Akyem Agyapomaa Methodist Primary School in the East Akim Municipality, particularly those in primary one to three, are risking their lives in pursuit of education as they study in a dilapidated school structure that has not seen renovation for over five decades.
The dwarf-like classroom walls of the school have developed serious cracks leaving the bricks hanging while a part of the weakened roofing sheets have been ripped off.
The situation, according to school authorities, threatens the lives of the teaching staff and the pupils most of who have now become truant, partly due to the deplorable condition of their classrooms.
Head teacher of the school, Jonas Kofi Ametepe who described the situation as “very bad,” told 3News “one of the classrooms [primary one] is cracked seriously”.
According Mr Ametepe who said he was recently transferred to the school, the primary one classroom was previously being occupied by children in kindergarten one and two but had to be relocated due to the state of the classroom.
He said the kindergarten children are being hosted by the Hunger Project following an intervention by the school authorities.
“Whenever it’s about to rain, we have to close down the school for them [pupils] to go home,” the head teacher said.
Meanwhile, he said activities of galamsey operators was further deteriorating the situation and affecting teaching and learning during school hours.
He noted the illegal miners have invaded the school compound just close to the school building where they dig in search of gold, noting “they go to and fro. We are not having peace over there at the moment”.
Further, he said of the school population of 160, on the average, only 70 pupils come to school daily, adding some of the pupils have now joined the galamsey business hence their truancy.
Mr Ametepe said because the building have no doors, the classrooms have become the bedroom of some of the galemsey operators.
He has appealed to the government to intervene to save a looming disaster, noting he is currently working to inform the District Director of Education about the state of the building and the activities of galamsey operators on the school compound.
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