Pupils at the Tinsung Fathul-Mubeen Islamic primary school are studying in deplorable conditions, with the school’s structure posing serious risks to their safety and well-being.

The mud-based building, with crumbling walls and rusted, dilapidated roofing, fails to provide a secure environment, making teaching and learning challenging, especially when it rains.

Large portions of the walls are missing, and the sagging roof, weakened by years of neglect, exacerbates the situation.

Open holes in the walls, serving as makeshift windows, leave the classrooms exposed to harsh weather conditions.

Despite these dangerous conditions, the children attending this school are expected to sit for the same national exams as their peers in better-equipped schools across the country.

This glaring disparity raises urgent questions about equality in education and the need for immediate intervention to provide a safe learning environment for Tinsung’s pupils.

Community members are calling on authorities to take swift action to renovate the school and provide proper facilities for the children. They warn that the continued neglect of their school endangers both the students’ education and safety.

Dauda Sumailai, Chairman of the PTA at Tinsung Fathul-Mubeen Islamic Primary School, told Graphic Online that the school, built over 40 years ago by the community, has never been renovated.

He expressed concern that if the situation is not addressed, students will face further academic disadvantages in an already underserved district.

Chairman Sumailai also criticized successive governments for neglecting the community, highlighting that the lack of a decent school structure and teacher accommodation discourages teachers from staying in the area.

“Our major problem is a proper school building for our children,” he lamented.

“We’ve been urged to send our children to school, but as you can see, this building isn’t suitable for learning. The mud structure you see was built by community members 40 years ago, yet no government, not even the Mion District Assembly, has considered building us a modern, well-furnished classroom block.”

Tinalibei Jijiri Yildana, a teacher and native of the community who has been teaching at the school for two years, said the poor conditions are affecting academic performance and called on the government and charitable organizations to assist.

“I feel sad every time I enter the classroom to teach,” he said. “This school is older than me. It was built by our parents in 1985 before I was born. I studied here in the same conditions and became a teacher. When I got my post, I chose to return and help my community, but the situation remained unchanged. The school was nearly collapsing as enrolment was dropping. However, we kept pushing, and now we have over 300 students enrolled.”

Yildana emphasized that many teachers refuse to stay after seeing the state of the school, leading to chronic staff shortages.

“We have four teachers, including one Arabic instructor, but only three are currently on post. One handles the Junior High School. Teachers come from far away, and upon seeing the structure, they run away. Some request transfers, while others leave without notice.”

Haruna Amidu, a basic six pupil, expressed his frustration with how classes are disrupted whenever it rains. He also lamented the lack of teaching materials and furniture at the school and appealed to benevolent organizations and individuals for help.

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The body of the deceased only known as Kwaku was found with shot wound dumped in a bush near the Odumasi gas filling station.

According to Kwasi Antwi, a family member, the child disappeared from home on Monday evening.

Efforts to trace him proved futile until some residents found him dead.

Mother of the deceased, Abigail Asante, speaking to Adom News, said she is still in shock.

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The hundreds of pupils, clad in a blue uniform, chorused Kelvynboy’s song amid a wild choreography.

They were being motivated by some persons believed to be ‘prefects’ as they sing the lyrics word for word.

The pupils seemed to be having fun since the presence of some teachers were noticed and the loud laugh signified they were having a good time.

The viral video has travelled wide to land on the eyes of the hitmaker, and he has reacted.

Kelvynboy said he is overwhelmed and experiencing a web of emotions.

He reposted the viral video on his official Instagram page to salute the people for falling in love with his craft.

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A post shared by BLACK STAR ⭐️ (@kelvynboymusic_)

The two children died after the owner of the Pre-school, Mrs Zhuwakina Javangwe, allegedly forgot them in the boot where she had told them to sit.

Masvingo Provincial Police Spokesperson, Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa, confirmed the incident to the State media.

According to the police report, Mrs Javangwe put four children, two boys and two girls in the car trunk at around 10:00 am.

She only later discovered that she had forgotten the four minors in the Honda Fit trunk when she was about to clean the car later in the day.

After coming to her realization, Mrs Javangwe reportedly removed the four children from the trunk.

The two boys were resuscitated and regained consciousness, while the two girls Lynet Musungatu aged four and  Celine Shiri, three were unfortunately pronounced dead upon arrival at Chiredzi District Hospital.

In other news, an unidentified teenage boy was on Monday found dead in a girl’s toilet at Ntutha Primary school, Bulawayo.

Bulawayo provincial Deputy Education Director, Thabani Sibanda, confirmed the development saying:

“We passed by the school where the body was found in the morning. Police were told about it and they said they were waiting for those working under the criminal investigation to attend to the scene.

“The body was spotted by school children visiting the lavatory in the morning. The ministry had to send the children back home for their safety.”

The police are investigating the incident as details on circumstances leading to his death are yet to be established.

Nigerians have condemned the Airport authorities and management of a school who took its students on an excursion to the Abuja Airport amidst the Coronavirus outbreak.

A lady, who was concerned about the health of the students, filmed them as they were filed and shown round the airport by some airport staff.

Following the wide condemnation, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) via its Twitter handle, said it has banned excursions at all airports.

Watch the video, the reactions from Nigerians and the Tweet from FAAN below:

The pupils will be vacating today, Thursday, December 19, ahead of the festive holidays despite failure to write first term examination.

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A visit to some schools by Adom News confirmed that pupils in public schools were preparing towards vacation while those in private schools were found writing exam.

Pupils in five public schools, Damongo Presby Primary, Damongo Jakpa, Jafo Primary School, Sawla D/A and St Augustine Primary School did not partake in the examination, while New Life Primary School, Saako Primary and Pentecost Primary Schools, all private, were said to have written exam.

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In an interview with Adom News, headteacher of Jafo Primary School, Mr Alex Karmetey, explained that the development was informed by a directive from the Tamale Education Regional office during a meeting held on the new curriculum.

A key reform under the new standard based curriculum that took effect in September 2019 is that pupils in Basic 1, 2, 3 and Junior High School (JHS) 1 will not write end of term exam, except for pupils in Basic 4, 6 and JHS 2 who will write a standardised test.

The absence of doors and windows at the Solid Rock Baptist Academy at Dromankesse in the Bono East region has compelled pupils to carry their furniture to and fro school daily.

According to headteacher of the school, Reverend Emmanuel Ansah-Damoah, this daily ritual for pupils including those in kindergarten and nursery is not only stressful but also worrying.

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He said the last time he saw pupils carry their furniture home was when school closed for the long break two weeks ago and the thought of pupils returning to repeat this same activity breaks Rev. Ansah-Damoah’s heart.

“Our pupils have been forced to carry their chairs and tables home because they are scared some thieves will steal them and so as you can see, [though] we are on vacation, there is no furniture in the classroom because the pupils have taken them to their homes. They will bring them when school re-opens,” he told Adomonline.com.

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According to him, though the only private school in Nkoranza which has a population of about 12,000 and has trained pupils who are now adults in enviable positions, same cannot be said of the facilities.

That notwithstanding, the school continues to make positive impact on the lives of residents.

Rev Ansah-Damoah, therefore, appealed to the government and other philanthropists to support the school.

Source: Adomonline.com | Dorcas Abedu-Kennedy

The Acting National Coordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), Gertrude Quashigah says an official announcement of the new component of the programme, will be made by President Akufo-Addo in August.

According to her, the cocoa drink will be given as breakfast to the children before their daily hot nutritious meal is served to them by mid-morning.

Speaking at the ongoing regional capacity building training workshop organised for caterers, cooks and district nutrition officers under the GSFP at Wa in the Upper West Region, Mrs Quashigah noted that the introduction of cocoa drink would help improve the health of the children.

She indicated that there were other several innovations her outfit was introducing to improve on the GSFP especially, the quality of the meal served to the kids.

Mrs Gertrude Quashigah

Her outfit is also working hard to improve the welfare of the caterers as well as how to expand and sustain the programme to benefit more Ghanaian children, she said.

The Ghana School Feeding Programme was set up to increase school enrolment, attendance, and retention; reduce short term hunger and malnutrition as well as boost domestic food production.

The training, dubbed: “Innovative Nutrition Initiative”, is on the theme: “Improving School Meals through Capacity Building” will equip the caterers and their head cooks to measure up to the required quality standards of preparing a nutritious meal for the pupils.

Training to sharpen skills

A total of 2,070 caterers and head cooks are benefiting from the training programme in the region.

The Ghana School Feeding Programme with funding from the World Food Programme (WFP) and technical support from the Partnership for Child Development (PCD) is to train a total of 5,711 caterers and head cooks in the Northern, North East, Savannah, Upper East and Upper West Regions to sharpen their cooking skills.

The training programme is in two phases -training of District Nutrition Officers on the use of a software called School Meal Planner (SMP) to generate local menus with quantities for use by the caterers and practical cooking training for all school feeding caterers and head cooks in each region.

There would be cooking sessions for the caterers and head cooks on the use of local ingredients to generate healthy and nutritionally balanced meals for school pupils that meet the daily intake of 30% for energy.

The caterers and the head cooks will also undergo food hygiene and storage, cooking and serving under hygienic condition, records keeping and use of handy measures.

All the caterers and head cooks who are participating in the training programme would be awarded certificates of participation.

Managing efficient, effective homegrown ingredients

The Acting National Coordinator indicated that the main goal of the workshop is to train the participants on the use of the meal planner software to generate district based menus.

Secondly, to deepen the involvement and participation of the Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs), Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in managing an efficient and effective homegrown school feeding programme, she explained.

“The goal of this workshop is also to deepen the involvement and participation of the Regional Coordinating Councils, MMDAs, and the Ghana School Feeding Programme National Secretariat in managing an efficient and effective homegrown school feeding programme,” Mrs Quashigah told the participants.

She appealed to the various RCCs and MMDAs to offer the necessary support to the Programme throughout the training programme to ensure its success.

She was optimistic that the training would inspire the best cooking performance from the caterers for the enjoyment and health benefit of the pupils under the Programme.

The next phase of the training programme, according to Mrs Quashigah would cover the rest of the country.

Source: Myjoyonline.com

A Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited to the school, observed that some of the classes in both the Primary and Junior High Schools did not have furniture, thereby, compelling the pupils to sit on the floor during lesson hours while some classes had few furniture with three to four other pupils also spotted sitting on one desk.

The GNA further observed that the Kindergarten and Primary One levels, which had about 100 and 110 pupils respectively, had no single desk, forcing the children to sit on the floor to learn.

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According to the enrolment figures in the various classes in the primary section, primary two to six had 81, 96, 88, 80 and 64 pupils respectively with only 28, 30, 26, 22 and 27 desks, thereby, compelling three to four pupils to sit on one desk and others on the floor.

At the JHS level, the about 80 pupils in the JHS one had no single desk while the JHS Two and Three had few number of desks, further compelling them to perch either three or four on one desk.

Besides, the GNA investigations revealed that due to inadequate classrooms, the management of the school, particularly the primary section, converted a staff common room into a classroom to accommodate the more than 100 kindergarten pupils, which caused overcrowding and unhygienic conditions thereby, denying them the right to learn how to write.

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Mr Thomas Azure Alukuke, Head Teacher in charge of the Primary School, said that the situation had adverse effects on the development of the children and did not guarantee the expected good academic foundation for them as future managers of the country.

He disclosed that due to the familiarity on the floor, the pupils found it difficult to sit on desks to write whenever they had the opportunity to do so, making them to develop poor handwriting and spinal cord problems.

Mr Joshua Ageezabre, the Head Teacher in charge of the JHS section also indicated that about 50 pupils had been turned away due to the unbearable conditions the school found itself.

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The Head Teachers further disclosed that the lack of teachers’ accommodation, coupled with the breakdown of the Bongo-Balungu Bridge had affected academic work negatively as teachers’ absenteeism was high during rainy season.

They said some of the teachers stayed across the bridge and whenever it was threatening to rain the teachers had to abandon classes in order to cross the bridge and some do not even come to school at all on certain days when it threatens to rain.

The Head Teachers, however, disclosed that the community had voluntarily given out a piece of land for the construction of the teachers’ accommodation, but the school did not have the resources to build it.

According to the Head Teachers, all efforts to have their challenges addressed have proven futile as their pleas to the Bongo District Education Directorate and the Bongo District Assembly had not witnessed any positive response.

They therefore appealed to other state institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations, philanthropists, individuals among others to assist the school to acquire some furniture as well as build accommodation for the teachers to enhance academic activities to give proper foundation to the children.

The situation, according to the residents and teachers in the area, who spoke to Today on condition of anonymity, pose grave danger to the lives of the pupils.

More than 300 Class One to Six pupils in the school, Today observed, face imminent danger as they learn under palm trees and thatch shade structures which are on the verge of collapsing.

The North Tongu District Assembly and Volta Regional branch of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Today was told, were yet to fulfill their promise to refurbish the so-called classrooms for the school which was established some 50 years ago.

What makes the situation more frightening is the fact that the children were exposed to all kinds of reptiles.

“We are living in fear because our numerous complaints to school authorities concerning the deteriorating condition of our make-shift structures which serve as classrooms have not received any positive response.

“…but we fear that one day they will collapse on us,” the distraught pupils and teachers told Today in an interview.

According to the pupils, the school which was built 50 years ago has not seen any rehabilitation works.

Our recent visit to the school revealed that the school could wreak havoc on the pupils if immediate steps are not taken to address their legitimate concerns.

Today also observed that the state of the makeshift structures, which serve as classrooms, was fast deteriorating as a result of the lack of maintenance.

In some instances, Today noted that there have been a partial attempt to roof them, albeit poorly done.

She said about 20.4 percent of children in primary three read with minimum competency and proficiency in English. Madam Nicoleau disclosed this during the opening of a two-month Ghanaian language materials development writers’ workshop on learner’s project held in Tamale.

The learner’s project is being funded by USAID and implemented throughout the country aimed at supporting the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to improve on reading performance in the primary schools. She said the project policies would improve on teaching and learning materials as well as training and coaching of teachers.

She said stakeholders of the project would be monitoring and evaluating as a means of measuring progress and produce evidence which would also increase support for reading at the district, regional and national levels.

According to Madam Nicoleau, 1,700 circuit supervisors and language experts would be benefiting from the districts, while about 6,700 schools and 22,800 teachers would also benefit.

She mentioned that 1.1 million classroom blocks from Kindergarten one-two to primary two pupils would also benefit from the project.

Mrs Cynthia Bosumtwi-Sam, the Acting Deputy Director of Ghana Education Service, said the project would solve the national challenges of less reading of children in the country. She urged the Teachers and Directors of the schools to make use of the learning materials provided to them to enhance quality education in the country.

Dr. Paul Opoku-Mensah, the Senior Language Policy Advisor of Party Learning, stated that, Ghanaian languages should be used as a medium of instruction from Kindergarten to primary three to help the children learn how to read both the local and the English languages. James Dobson, the Director of Education at USAID, encouraged stakeholders and other partners to support the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to accomplish the goals of the project.