Ahodwo R/C Basic School in Deplorable State
The Ahodwo R/C Basic School in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality of the Ashanti Region is on the verge of collapse, with its deteriorating infrastructure and unsafe environment raising serious concerns among residents, parents, and education stakeholders.
The school, which serves as the only public basic educational facility in the community, is characterized by cracked walls, broken doors and windows, leaking roofs, and the absence of a functioning toilet facility. The dilapidated state of the classrooms not only hampers effective teaching and learning but also poses life-threatening risks to the hundreds of pupils who attend the school.
Adding to the dire situation, the compound has been taken over by groups of young men suspected to be smoking marijuana. Residents say the presence of these “wee smokers” during and after school hours creates a threatening atmosphere for children and teachers alike.
Mr. Tuffour Hayford, an executive member of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), told SWIFTNEWS3.COM in a telephone interview that the deteriorating infrastructure has been a longstanding concern. “The condition of the school is seriously affecting academic work. Pupils cannot concentrate when they are studying in classrooms with broken windows, no doors, and no proper facilities. To make matters worse, strangers come around to smoke weed on the compound. It is disheartening,” he lamented.
He revealed that although a new classroom block was started years ago, the project has been left uncompleted, leaving pupils to study in unsafe structures.
PTA Chairman, Mr. Kwaku Boah, also raised alarm over the absence of a fence wall, which he said has contributed to the invasion of the school compound by drug users. “Without a fence wall, anybody at all can enter the premises. It exposes the children to danger every day,” he stressed.
Community members are therefore appealing to the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipal Assembly, the Ghana Education Service (GES), and the Ministry of Education to urgently intervene and salvage the situation. They fear that without immediate action, the condition of the school will not only continue to deteriorate but also discourage parents from enrolling their children.
Residents also called on security agencies to clamp down on the activities of drug users on the premises to restore safety and protect the dignity of the school.
The Ahodwo R/C Basic School, once seen as a beacon of hope for children in the community, now stands as a symbol of neglect. Stakeholders insist that urgent attention and resources must be mobilized to restore the school into a safe and conducive environment for learning.
