About 460 pupils of Dagbasu Primary and Junior High School (JHS) in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region, lack classrooms as they sit on stones to study
With no classrooms and furniture, the school currently holds classes under trees while the pupils sit on stones, bikes or on the bare floor.
It is indicated that, construction works on a two six-unit classroom blocks which started in the year 2013, had been abandoned at the lintel level, which is to serve as a class room.
The school also lacks potable water, teaching and learning aids, as well as playing materials for the pupils.
Currently, the few teachers, most of whom are volunteers, are using their ingenuity to improvise teaching and learning materials, as well as the playing items for the pupils to play with.
Speaking on the issue, the Headmaster of Dagbasu JHS, Mr Batong Dimah Yussif, explained that, the management of the school felt it would be a disservice to the community to close down the school based on the unavailability of the basic facilities because of the number of children in the community.
A decision to close down the school, he said, would have meant that all the children would be out of school and that explained the decision to hold classes under trees with virtually no furniture for them to sit or put their books on to write.
According to the headmaster, classes always came to an abrupt end and the children allowed to go home whenever there was any threat of bad weather.
In addition, he said, the school lacked professional teachers and the few who were around offered their services voluntarily.
Also in the fray is the Wellembele Community Senior High School (SHS) which was started in 2014 with the aim of expanding physical access and focus on the underserved rural communities, as well as providing the needed incentives for teenagers to enrol in SHS, but which has also been abandoned at the foundation level. The Contractor, Haysen Ghana Limited, an Accra-based company, was, however, on site.
