One of the major challenges facing Stephen’s Senior High Technical School (STEPSS) in Akyem Asiakwa in the Eastern region has been resolved by Government.
The school which seemed neglected to wallow in abject infrastructural and logistical challenges had existed decades without a school bus hence management depended on commercial vehicles to transport students for out-of-school academic activities.
After many media reports on the plight of the school, it has received a brand new school bus handed over to Ghana Education Service by Vice President Dr. Mamudu Bawumia on Monday, January 31, 2022
The bus was part of 150 fleets of vehicles presented by the government to GES for onward distribution to the beneficiary schools.
The Vice President explained that “I presented 150 vehicles to several Senior High Schools in the continued fulfillment of a pledge by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to provide the necessary logistics to ensure access to quality education for Ghana’s youth.
Made up of 100 buses and 50 pickup trucks, this latest provision of vehicles form part of a broader, ongoing effort by the government, through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and other stakeholders, to not only increase access to education for every Ghanaian child but also provide the necessary infrastructure and logistics to create a conducive environment for teaching and learning”
He underscored the importance of an efficient transportation system in the education sector, particularly in light of the flagship Free Senior High School program, and pledged Government’s commitment to doing even more.
Plight of STEPSS
St. Stephens Senior High Technical school (STEPSS) located at Akyem Asiakwa in Abuakwa South Municipality is reeling under serious infrastructural and logistical crises amidst an exponential increase in the population of students.
The infrastructural and furniture crises in the school forced students to lean against a wall or sit on the floor to learn, stand to eat at dining, and sleep in an uncompleted dormitory block.
The school established in 1978 as a private community day school was absorbed by the government in 1985.
It attained boarding status in 2019 however has no single boarding facility available to accommodate the students forcing authorities of the school to push students to occupy an uncompleted girl’s dormitory facility abandoned over a decade ago.
The headmaster of the School Frank Appiah said in a speech delivered last year November that “A GETFUND project of one Storey dormitory block started six years ago has not been completed. The project is 90% complete but all efforts to persuade the contractor have proved futile. Though not complete, the school authorities are compelled to ask border girls to occupy the building because there is nowhere to house them”.
He said “the school has never benefited from any package in respect of the distribution of school buses from the government to SHSs since government absorbed the school
“School is without a school bus and all efforts to get one from the Ministry of Education or elsewhere have proved futile. This precarious situation has made it difficult for management to run the school because the school spends a lot on special trips for students and the staff” The headmaster said.
The school has not received any major infrastructural expansion and supply of logistics despite the exponential increase in the student population.
Congested Classroom
The Headmaster said classrooms are congested but with a mono desks deficit of 1,114. The inadequate furniture forces students to either lean against walls or sit on the floor to learn.
Teachers also do not have tables and chairs therefore stand throughout their class lessons.
“There is serious congestion in classrooms some students at the moment sit in two in one mono desk, others also stand and some also sit on the floor for lessons .which is hindering effective teaching and learning. There are no tables and Chairs for teachers therefore teachers stand throughout to teach, have no tables to mark exercises, exams. No furniture in the staff common” the headmaster said.
Uncompleted Assembly Hall turned classroom
The headmaster stated that the Assembly hall is being used as a dining hall and classrooms for five classes.
The lack of dining tables and chairs forces students to either sit on the floor or stand to eat while holding their meal.
“This school is also without a kitchen. The kitchen staff operates under an open shed making the place vulnerable. During raining season, the kitchen staff finds it difficult operating which affects the school’s timetable and instructional hours”.
St. Stephen’s Senior High Technical School is without administration block,” A structure that is supposed to be a workshop for technical students have been partitioned into smaller rooms and offices and being used as administration block no”.
At the moment there is no single Bungalow at the compound for staff ” all the staff members commute from Asiakwa and its environs. What makes the situation serious is the difficulty in controlling the more than 1000 borders especially in the night”
The ICT Lab in the school is very very small and cannot even accommodate one class at a time. Some students have to stand outside for their colleagues to finish before they also have their lessons.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
