Sandema Senior High School lacks adequate accommodation

Sandema (UE) Oct. 17, GNA - The Sandema Senior High School in the Builsa North district of the Upper East Region is appealing to the government to construct more dormitories to accommodate more students.

The school was chosen as one of the model schools in 2006 and has since been given some infrastructure but still lacks students and staff accommodation.

It is currently accommodating over 1,400 second and third year students with only two self-improved dormitories housing eight hundred girls and six hundred boys.

This came up when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Sandema, interviewed some parents and the authorities of the school.

Some parents who had their wards in the school said they had complained on several occasions about overcrowding and expressed fear that such a situation could spark an epidemic if any student got infected with a contagious disease.

Mr Patrick Tanquamyire, the headmaster of the school, confirmed the inadequate student accommodation and said efforts were underway to complete some structures which were started as dormitories to accommodate the students.

He said a two- storey building each for both boys and girls were started to accommodate the students seven years ago, but work on them came to a halt and effort to get the contractor back to site had proved futile.

He said most of the teaching staff stayed outside the school and that did not augur well for the development of academic work and promotion of discipline in the school.

Mr Tanguamyire, commenting on the free SHS, lauded the programme and said it had come at a time when many Ghanaians were having financial challenges and it would give all qualified students the opportunity to go to secondary school.

He reminded the students of their role in national development and urged them to behave responsibly and be good role models for the younger ones.

The headmaster called on the Old Students Association, the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and all stakeholders to support the school with transport as their only means of transport had broken down making.

The situation was not different when the GNA visited some Senior High Schools including the Bawku Senior high school, Bawku Technical Institute and Bawku Senior High Technical School

Other secondary schools that have accommodation problems in the region include; the Zebilla Senior High Technical, Tempane Senior High School and the Kusanaba Senior High School Technical Schools in the Bawku west district of the Upper East Region.

Most of the schools mentioned, lack classrooms and dormitory accommodation and as a result some of them had to convert classrooms into dormitories for their students making it difficult to dispense quality teaching and learning for academic excellence.

At the Zebilla senior high technical school in the Bawku west district, most of the students especially the boys sleep in the corridors of the classrooms exposing them to mosquitoes and other harmful insects.  

GNA

Read Full Story