Pupils of the Adrume Junior High School in the Ketu North Municipality of the Volta Region continue to risk their lives studying under a weak structure.

This has led to a decline in academic performance and enrollment, as parents in neighbouring communities prefer to enrol their children in distant schools to ensure their safety.

The Adrume Junior High School was established in 1991 after the Jerry John Rawlings government constructed a pavilion structure for the community.

The community mobilized and erected blocks under the pavilion to make it a bit more enclosed and comfortable for academic work.

However, the over 30-year structure is gradually deteriorating.

The three-unit block has developed cracks in several portions, which puts the lives of the teachers and pupils at risk.

Some window members have fallen, exposing the students to the mercy of the weather, while most of the wooden members are rotten away.

The School’s PTA Chairman, Hope Koku Ahiakpe said academic activities are disrupted when it is raining, causing the school to have a temporal hold-up.

“They have to wait until the rain stops before they can continue with learning activities. Children from other communities used to come here but due to the dilapidating state of the classroom block they have been moved to other schools”, he said.

Community members fear the unfortunate might happen due to the weak state of the structure.

Nonetheless, a three-unit classroom block constructed with funding from the District Development Fund is under lock and key.

According to community authorities, the assembly sighted construction defects hence instructed the contractor to correct them before the facility is handed over.

About four years on, nothing has been done to that effect, as the pupils continue to study under the weak structure.

The Adrume Youth Leader, Seth Kobla Awise grieved how successive governments failed to provide the school with infrastructure, until 2020 when a 3-unit classroom block was allocated to the school.

He, however, found it unfortunate for the structure to be locked after completion, while the learners languished in “such a horrible structure identified as a school block”

He expressed disappointment in the building design lacking ancillary facilities.

“We have a whole building without a store facility, not even to talk of a place for teachers to stay, no provision made for sanitary facilities”, he lamented.

A representative of the Adrume Traditional Authorities, Perfect Kobla Agbe lamented the state of the current classroom block, adding that it is affecting the academic performance of the learners.

“The state of the structure inconveniences the students hence they are not able to learn as expected of them. So we are appealing to the government, the new block which has been completed and locked should be made available for use by the learners”, he added.

It is the hope of the Adrume community that the government through the Ketu North Municipal Assembly would do the needful and make the classroom block available for use.

At the time of filing the report, no official of the Ketu North Municipal Assembly was available to speak to the state of the newly completed classroom block.