Tuesday evening’s rainstorm has brought academic activities to a temporary halt at Ahwiaa cluster of schools in the Kwabre East Municipality of Ashanti Region.
Roofs of several classrooms have been ripped off, rendering the affected infrastructure unusable. Computers, textbooks, tables and chairs, among other teaching and learning materials have been destroyed.
Pupils had to spend learning hours drying their wet books and tidying up the classrooms for temporary use.
“Some of us are preparing to write our Basic Education Certificate Examination, and as such do not want anything to disrupt our studies. We therefore appeal to government and whoever intends to support to fix our classrooms for interrupted teaching and learning”, a JHS 3 student of Ahwiaa M/A, Richlove Sarfo Konadu pleaded.
Officials of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) visited the school to assess the extent of damage.
“We’ve taken stock of the affected properties and per out estimate, we will need about GHC250,000 to fix the damage. We will submit our report to the Municipal Chief Executive for onward forwarding to the Regional Minister”, Kwabre East Municipal Coordinator at NADMO, Anthony Senya explained.
The Municipal Director of Education, Nana Adu Mensah Asare was alarmed with the situation.
“It’s very sad because it’s going to deprive affected pupils from accessing their classrooms. 179 pupils have so far been affected and unless we are able to make an alternative arrangement for the kids, their academic activities may be disrupted. We are doing everything possible to fix the situation temporary, whilst waiting for government or benevolent organisations to come to our aid”, he said.
The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is also stepping in to ensure academic activities resume.
“We know government would definitely intervene but in the interim, we will call an emergency PTA meeting to find ways of assisting for academic work to resume as soon as possible. The current situation is such that, whether rain or shine they will be affected”, PTA chairman, Bishop Abraham Osei Sarfo hinted.
Individual homes were also not spared from the wrath of the storm.
Several houses in the area saw their roofs ripped off completely, destroying personal properties.
By Ibrahim Abubakar
