Blackboards Fly During Lessons

Classes are in session. Suddenly there is confusion all over with pupils tripping over each other to chase a precious object from crashing. The object? The blackboard on which the teacher was writing a second ago is in the air, being blown away by a strong wind. This is not a scene from a video movie from Kumawood. It is the reality of upper primary teachers and pupils of the Asutsuare Junction District Authority (D/A) School who have their classes under trees. With their classroom sited under trees and located at an elevation of 61 meters above sea level and record wind speeds of 25 kilometres per hour, the winds easily carry out the old weak blackboards from their wooden stands during their peak periods. Such surreal events are often accompanied by the winds blowing dust into the eyes of teachers and pupils. Another special feature of the Asutsuare Junction district assembly (D/A) school is that classes are always suspended anytime clouds threaten to release a downpour. Also, teachers and pupils are often forced to change their positions depending on the direction of the sun in order to escape too much sunburn. Speaking to The Finder in an exclusive interview last Friday, the teachers said hardly does a day pass without a pupil or two falling sick. Mavis Quarshie and Agnes Boante, teachers in classes Four �A� and �B� respectively, told The Finder that class enrollment has drastically reduced due to the schools� situation. They said in addition to the havoc caused by the strong winds, the cool breeze that accompany the winds often lure their pupils to sleep. �As for our pupils dozing off during teaching and learning, it is an everyday occurrence so when I spot that my pupil�s eyes are hard, I order them to be on their feet for a while,� Ms Quarshie said. The Finder also observed that due to the shortage of desks, three pupils instead of two share one dual desk. The Asutsuare Junction D/A School is located about hundred meters along the Akosombo highway. The school has a few well constructed classrooms built with assistance from the School�s Management Committee (SMC) and Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) for the lower primary but these also do not have doors and windows so herdsmen and other community members take over the rooms when the pupils vacate the classrooms. When contacted, Mrs Eunice Abbey, the Ghana Education Service (GES) Circuit Supervisor for Doryumu, under whose jurisdiction the Asutsuare Junction school falls, said the Shai-Osudoku District was aware of the lack of classrooms of some schools in the area, including Asutsuare Junction D/A School. But she noted that the severe lack of infrastructure for the provision of quality education has been a challenge schools in her circuit are faced with �and I pray that some immediate intervention is made to help our pupils study under an advantageous environment�. Mrs Abbey entreated the GES and philanthropists for the supply of textbooks and other teaching and learning materials to facilitate teaching and learning in the deprived schools in her circuit.