The government, through the Ministry of Education, has announced plans to construct new girls’ dormitories at the Northern School of Business (Nobisco) and Labone Senior High School, and also a 12-unit classroom block for Labone SHS.

The fire, which occurred on Wednesday, gutted the dormitory at the Northern School of Business, leaving many students without personal belongings and forcing a partial closure of the school.

The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, visited the campus to sympathise with affected students and address the situation. Speaking during the visit, he assured the school community of the government’s commitment to swiftly rebuild a new girls’ dormitory.

“We should get a completely new girls’ dormitory for Nobisco. We’re already in the process of procurement. It’s before the Minister for Finance, just to give approval for Gallo Financing for a girls’ dormitory here,” he said.

“And then another one to respond to the Labone Senior High School tragedy and also build a 12-unit classroom block for the school.. So, we’re here to empathise with you,” the Minister added.

Read also: NOBISCO fire outbreak displaces about 900 students

Mr Iddrisu said interim measures were being put in place to accommodate displaced students, noting that he had instructed education authorities to identify temporary solutions.

“I know that immediately you would need some relief support. And in the interim, I’ve asked the Regional Director of Education and the head to get them to do an assessment of the building just immediately outside here so that we can see if we can temporarily fix it,” he stated.

Read also: Fire ravages Labone SHS girls’ dormitory

The Headmaster of the Northern School of Business, Al-Hassan Dokurgu, outlined temporary arrangements the school has adopted to accommodate affected students.

“One option is to move the boys who are currently in the flat blocks at Nkrumah and Attah. We will relocate them to the dining hall, so feeding will be done outside. We are in a crisis situation,” he said.

He explained that another option involves relocating male students to a new dormitory block that is still under construction.

“Another option is to move the boys from their current block to a new block that is being constructed by Mr Anta, but has not yet been handed over to the school. We are making efforts to reach out to him. The block was originally expected to be handed over around 10 December, but something went wrong, and it was not completed,” Mr Dokurgu explained.

He added that the school has put measures in place to provide emotional support to students affected by the incident.

“When they come back, we have a strong counselling team made up of two males and two females who will engage them periodically,” he said.

According to him, the school plans to combine professional counselling with spiritual support to help students recover emotionally.

“Our plan in handling them emotionally is to rely on the counselling unit. Fortunately, most people in Ghana are religious in nature,” he said.

“Beyond the counselling provided by trained professionals, our religious bodies and associations will also share words of wisdom to help stabilise the students emotionally.”