It is a sight usually associated with village schools and war ravaged cities - crumbling walls, rotten roofs, broken doors, dirty environment and poor learning facilities. But right in the heart of the Capital City - Accra, Pig Farm Developmental Junior Secondary School (JSS) reveals the sordid state of Ghanaian schools.
On Monday, May 30, 2005 when the clouds started gathering around 11a.m. bracing for heavy down pour, the feeling of dejection befell the teachers and pupils of the school. When the rains finally began, the plight of the pupils in the school, which is currently being occupied by the JSS1 (A and B), could easily draw one to tears. It was a sad scenario.
The derelict classrooms left the schoolchildren at the mercy of the rain. It was dropping with such a fierce intensity that the heavily blowing wind and the leaking roofs saw the visibly frustrated children grouping themselves at corners of the classroom with most transfixed like rats looking for a safe place to hide from the torments of a hungry dog. Even at the corners where the leakages were less intense, the pupils were still beaten by the rain which soaked their school uniforms and learning materials.
The Enquirers investigations have revealed that thousands of JSS pupils have been learning under this excruciating condition for several years. The school was founded some 31 years ago. How some of these pupils managed to pass their Basic Exam Certificate Examination (BECE) still remains a wonder to many onlookers. Investigations showed that the school lacked urinal and toilet facilities, a situation that is compelling the school children to ease themselves near the uncompleted structure - posing yet another problem of sanitation.
Almost a hundred metres walk away from the school lie the Pig Farm Community KVIP which exploded a year ago due to lack of maintenance and is now at a semi completed stage. The pupils who were interviewed expressed their fears and frustrations over conditions in the school and said that they are always the laughing stock of their colleagues.
