Asebi school pupils attend classes under trees

Inadequate classrooms and other educational facilities at the Asebi D/A Basic School in the Shai-Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region have led to academic work being held under trees.

The situation is affecting academic performance at the school, which has 300 pupils and 15 teaching staff.

To this end, the Head Teacher of the school, Mr. Patrick Narh Lawer, has appealed to benevolent organizations to go to the aid of the school and provide classrooms in order to enhance teaching and learning.

He said the school sometimes merges some of the classes when it rains.

He explained to the Ghanaian Times upon a visit last Friday that while each basic school ideally needed 11 classrooms to accommodate the pupils, the Asebi D/A Basic School currently had only nine classrooms.

Mr. Lawer noted that some of the existing classrooms were in dilapidated condition, posing risks to the safety and health of both teachers and students and negatively impacting effective teaching and learning.

He further stated that the school did not have sufficient desks and office space for administrative work while the cement floors of the classrooms were worn out and had developed holes, leading to dust accumulation in the rooms.

Additionally, he explained the school lacked cupboards for storing teaching and learning materials, computers for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) education, as well as sufficient desks.

“Teachers are forced to carry out administrative work under trees due to the lack of adequate office space,” he explained.

Mr. Lawer attributed some of the school’s poor academic performances over the years to these challenges and emphasized the need for community and stakeholder involvement to address them.

“We need desktop computers to teach ICT effectively, desks, and graph boards for teaching graph-related topics. We also need to restock our library,” he said.

He lamented the lack of sports equipment, including jerseys, footballs, volleyballs, and netballs.

Mr. Lawer also raised concerns about the accommodation for teachers, noting that the school bungalow was beyond repair and that a new building would be better.

“We humbly seek the support of the government, benevolent individuals, and former students to come to our aid,” he added.

The school is set to celebrate its 30th anniversary next month, on October 11, 2024. Although the school actually reached this milestone last year, financial constraints led to the postponement of the celebration.

“We hope that the celebration will reflect the support and improvements we wish to achieve for our school,” Mr. Lawer said.

The Asebi D/A Basic School was established on October 11, 1993, in the Greater Accra Region.