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The lives of over two hundred (200) pupils at the Mepe Roman Catholic (RC) Junior High School (JHS), in the North Tongu District of the Volta region are in danger as they defecate in the bushes, Today can report.

The situation, this paper gathered, puts the pupils at the risk of being attacked by wild animals and/or bitten by dangerous reptiles hiding in the surrounding greeneries.

That, Today learnt, was due to the deplorable state of the only pit latrine dug for the state-owned school many years ago which has forced the pupils to attend to nature’s call in nearby bushes though at the peril of their lives.

The school, this paper further learnt, was deprived of adequate classroom blocks, sanitary facilities and canteen, which situation compelled the pupils and teaching staff to appeal to the government and the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to assist the school.

The lack of proper sanitary facilities was not limited to Mepe RC JHS, as a recent visit by Today to the Mepe Traditional Area showed that about 95% per cent of public Primary and Junior High Schools in the area did not have decent places of convenience.

State-owned schools including Mepe Presbyterian Primary, District Authority (DA) JHS, Mepe RC Primary and JHS lacked essential amenities that could have helped in enhancing teaching and learning in the area.

Today understands that many of these schools were built over two decades ago under the erstwhile Jerry John Rawlings administration and have since not seen any major facelift.

During the visit, it was also discovered that whilst some of the public schools had toilets, they lacked water systems.

Some students and teaching staff told Today that the development had compelled them to defecate in the bushes, an act that accentuates how far Ghana is from realizing the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal seven (7) which seeks to improve the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation.

The students and the teachers pointed out that the issue of non-availability of toilet facilities has become part of the public school system in that part of the traditional area in the district.

“It is not even being regarded as a priority at all. So, over the years, we have become accustomed to using the bush, where it is available,” a teacher lamented.

Defecating in the bushes, according to the pupils and teachers, was very dangerous since they could be attacked by wild animals, dangerous snakes and scorpions.

“Beside the inconvenience, it is not dignifying for teachers and pupils to be rushing into the bush whenever they feel like attending to nature’s call,” another teacher fumed.

In the cause of our investigations, it became clear that most of the schools were built without providing toilet facilities.

At Mepe RC JHS the pupils told Today that the toilet situation there was appalling.

They claimed covering their noses with handkerchiefs to escape the offensive smell that emanated from the toilet has become a daily routine for them.

And at Mepe Presbyterian Primary School the stench was even worse.

One of the pupils at the school who gave her name as Mary Amekudzi said: “Promises were made to them by government at the beginning of the year to improve on the facility, but those promises were yet to be fulfilled.”

She said, as a result of the terrible state of the toilet she always restrains herself from using the facility and only eases herself at home after school hours.

The story was not different at the Mepe DA JHS where many pupils preferred not to attend to nature’s call in the school till they got to a convenient place.

In an interview with Today, some opinion leaders in Mepe blamed the authorities of the North Tongu District Assembly for the poor condition of toilets in the area.

According to them, unsanitary conditions, typical of many public school toilets in the area, send the wrong message to students about the measures put in place by state officials to improve sanitation and hygiene.