“The school is over 70-years but there is nothing to write home about due to its current poor nature,” cries Divisional Chief of Wassa Asikuma Traditional Council in the Western Region, Nana Kwame Baafour Anim II.
Last year, the school recorded zero per cent pass in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The mud school structure, constructed in 1940’s through communal labour has not seen any renovation since.
Visibly cracked walls and floors, no doors to the classrooms greet the visitor to the school.
The classrooms are without doors, giving access to intruders, including ‘wee’ smokers. Snakes and other reptiles find comfort in the classrooms, exposing lives to danger.
Teachers have not been left out because there is no Staff Common Room, forcing teachers to find solace under trees not to talk of any proper toilet facility for both teachers and students.
Nana Kwame Baafour Anim II says teachers have repeatedly threatened to leave.
“The BECE performance of the school is very bad. Last year we recorded zero per cent. The enrolment is very bad due to the structures that you can see here, students sit on bare flood in their classroom to learn.
“The building here, the roof is off; reptiles always invade classes then when the rain starts, we have to close and go home so our classroom is in a very deplorable state.”
Nana Kwame Baafour Anim II has therefore, declared that his kingdom is not part of Ghana. He made this assertion during an interview with Mybrytfmonline.com reporter, Samuel Mprah.
To Nana Baafour Anim II, his area of kingship has been deprived of developmental projects and as such he believed his territory is not part of Ghana. The chief backed his assertion with pictures of a school building facility, a toilet, and other structures that posed as a death trap to his people.
According to him, the worst of it all is the Wassa Asikuma D/A primary school building in which the future leaders of this country in his area are living in for their academic work. How do we expect these children of ours to excel under a structure of this kind? Nana inquired.
He divulged that government goes and government comes but none of the government has taken it upon himself to fix the poor conditions of structures of this kind in his area of authority. Nana reveals that the majority of the youth in his area do not take pride in education and he believes the poor condition of school facilities is a big factor.
During raining seasons the children vacate school because the downpour of rain would not permit them to sit in their various classrooms.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has implemented free Senior High Education for every Ghanaian child which is a good initiative and a sign that education is the backbone of every society but I can say on authority that looking at the conditions of school structures in my area children from my place would find it difficult to get to the secondary school if nothing is done about school structures in the area. A conducive educational environment produces good academic outcomes.
Nana also made it known to our reporter that since the time of the introduction of the school feeding program by the formal President His Excellency John Agyekum Kuffour, Wassa Asikuma has never had their share of that policy.
He added that when he recently asked the MCE of the Area he was told the policy is a political base initiative, an answer which kept him thinking if his area is not part of Ghana.
“Now that the government has suspended the academic calendar for this year due to the pandemic, I am pleading with the government to get the situation fixed.”
Nana believes that the unattractiveness of Education in his area is one of the main reasons why galamsey activists are not coming to an end.
He further made it known to our reporter that he is currently building a new toilet facility for his people but his resources alone cannot be fixed the problems of his people. I am appealing to the government and co-operate bodies to come to our aid. He added.
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Solomon K. Nuwordu
