Pupils of the Gundork Primary School in the Nabdam District of the Upper East Region have called on the government, non-government organisations and philanthropists to support the school to prevent the building from collapse. 

The school’s structure has developed large cracks on its walls and gables, with all its supporting front pillars, especially from classes one to three, destroyed; exposing the iron rods. 

The windows and doors of the school have also been destroyed while the floor has deep potholes, exposing school children to danger. 

The school has 385 pupils, comprising 187 boys and 198 girls. 

Master Michael Yen, a Class Three pupil of the school, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that he was always sitting in class with fear due to the deplorable nature of the building. 

“All the pillars are always shaking whenever there is a strong wind, and we feel uncomfortable sitting in the classroom because we are afraid it may collapse on us, and this is distracting our studies, so we want the government to help renovate the school for us before something bad happens,” he stated. 

Mr Iddrisu Kabiru, the Assistant Headteacher of the school, noted that apart from the deplorable state of the building being a threat to the lives of both staff and pupils, the number of pupils also outweighed the capacity of the school, which was again mounting pressure on the building.  

He said instead of a normal class size of about 30 pupils, class two had 60 pupils, class three had 95 pupils, class four had 75 pupils, class five had 59 pupils, class six had 61 pupils, and class one had the least with 35 pupils. 

Mr Kabiru added that the only thing that was motivating the pupils was the fact that the school benefits from the school feeding programme but added that the children had not been fed lately. 

Mr. Joseph Kologbon, a parent and resident of the community, said the fast deterioration of the structure could be attributed to shoddy work by the contractor. 

“In all indications, it is very clear that the contractor did shoddy work and must be held responsible if anything happens to anybody in that school because this school was built just in 2007 when our mud houses were already there, but look at it, it is even weaker than our mud houses,” he stated.  

Mr Isaac Wulug, the Assemblyman of the Zanlerigu-Dagliga Electoral Area, emphasized that there was a need for the Government to expedite action on the renovation of the school to avoid casualties and ensure the continuity of academic activities. 

He added: “If we are by the assertion that these children are our future leaders then we must show them quality leadership by inculcating in them the mindset of improvement and this includes getting them a conducive environment to study.” 

Aside from the trauma of sitting in such classrooms, some of the pupils also have no chairs to sit on and are compelled to sit on the bare floor with their books on their laps.

Madam Agnes Anamoo, the District Chief Executive, said the school was really in a bad state, and while the assembly was considering the option of including it in the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) Project, other organisations could come in to help, given the urgent attention it deserved.