Africa Education Watch raises concern over rampant fire outbreaks in SHS'

Africa Education Watch notes with concern that, in the past two weeks alone, fire has gutted key infrastructure and facilities of five Senior High Schools (SHS) namely the Buipe SHS-Buipe, Islamic Girls SHS-Wa, Accra Academy SHS- Bubiashie, Oppong Memorial SHS-Kokofu and Boa Amponsem SHS-Dunkwa-On-Offin.

According to a statement by the organisation and sighted by GhanaWeb, the frequency, nature and outcome of these fires remain a source of concern and notes that:

a. All the fires occurred in dormitories when students were in the classroom.

b. Accra Academy SHS experienced two (2) fires within the two (2) week period.

c. The Buipe SHS girls’ dormitory is a newly constructed one.

d. In all, about 1,500 students have been affected, with many sent home.

"We recognize that the dry season is usually the peak season for infernos. However, the trendy nature of six (6) fire outbreaks in five (5) dormitories in five (5) senior high schools leaves much to be desired, especially when students are preparing for their West Africa Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE)."

It adds that; "We note that the Ghana National Fire Service has already commenced its usual investigations into the fires. Without preempting the outcome of investigations, the following actions are URGENTLY recommended to prevent any more fire outbreaks:"

a. The Ghana Education Service (GES) should liaise with the Ghana National Fire Service and the respective District Security Committees to organize school fire prevention/safety outreach exercises in all SHS.

b. The Ministry of Education must provide emergency funding towards the provision of temporal residential facilities, while repair works at the various dormitories commence as soon as possible.

c. The investigative reports must be made public and should feed into the GES’ school safety strategies to ensure civil society organizations and the media are able to track the compliance of schools /GES to the recommendations in the reports.

"The assurance of a safe school environment is a pre-requisite for quality teaching and learning," the statement ended.