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Effective teaching and learning has come to a standstill for the past five years after Pupils and teachers of Babytse D/A Primary  School in the Upper West Akim  District of the Eastern Region have been studying in a bamboo structure roofed with palm branches.

Due to this, the pupils are exposed to the harsh conditions of weather while parts of the roof of the structure continue to rip off due to heavy rainstorm.

Although the school has enough teachers with inadequate teaching and learning materials, lack of furniture and desk among others coupled with the bad state of the structure had negatively affected teaching and learning. 

Some of the pupils who do not have access to desks are compelled to stay at their various homes daily.

The school which was established in 2014 by the community members and was absorbed by the government in 2018 with students population of about 200 had since not seen any improvement in terms of decent infrastructural development for many years.

As a result of the current situation, parents who can afford have withdrawn their wards to other schools while those who cannot afford have dropped out of school.

The Headteacher of the school, Mr Eric Azaglo told the media that for more than five years, the students had been studying in the dilapidated wooden structure, but the situation had worsened as a result of rainstorms that hit the area and totally rip off the palm branches.

According to him, he has over the past years reported the bad condition of the school to the Upper West Akim District Education Directorate, but the situation still persisted, expressing worry about how the school had been neglected by the government and other relevant stakeholders over the years.

Mr Azaglo who had been in charge of the school for five years said the school needed decent classrooms and stressed that, “If the problem persists, the school parents and guardians will be compelled to withdraw their wards from the school.

Mr Azaglo therefore appealed to the government, benevolent organisations, institutions, non-governmental organisations and individuals to come to the aid of the school and help save the children’s lives and future.

“Whenever it gets cloudy, we have no option than to close the school. When we realize that the storm is heavy we wait for some time and allow them to go home”, he said. 

The School Management Committee (SMC) Chairman, Mr Kwadwo Ofori was worried about the current state of the school and therefore appealed to government and the Ghana Education Service ( GES ) to provide tables and chairs for teachers to sit and mark students exercises and assignments.