Ativuta Model Basic School under flood waters - Teachers, learners cry for help

Teaching and learning activities in most schools in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta region has come to a halt following torrential rains in parts of the Municipality especially Agbozume, Klikor and surrounding communities.

The heavy downpours also left many households and schools flooded, a situation which for over two weeks now had taken a toll on the livelihoods of the the residents most of whom have been displaced and homeless and have been compelled to move in with their relatives in other communities not affected by the destructive floods.

The dire situation compelled the Member of Parliament MP for the area, Abla Dzifa Gomashie after visiting the affected communities to call for immediate action from the relevant institutions including the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the Municipal Assembly to remedy the situation in the interim.

The MP called for collaborative efforts to find a permanent solution to the perennial occurrence.

A visit by a team of reporters to some of the affected schools saw just a hand full of learners loitering on and around the school compounds with some teachers sitting idle without any idea as to how to handle the situation.

One of the basic schools our team visited is Ativuta Basic School located between Nogokpo and Agbozume on the Accra - Aflao highway.

The school has been described by many people in the area as a "model'' basic school due to its beautiful infrastructure.

It has a learner population of about two hundred, so much for a local basic school located in such an enclave with more than enough classrooms furnished with modern dual desks and state of the art teaching and learning materials to cater for the population.

The school also has a well stocked library, well equipped computer and science laboratories, ultra modern and hygienic washrooms and places of convenience in a beautifully fenced and gated fence wall.

The headmaster of Ativuta Basic School, Aryee Gideon Seth, intimated that the school got all it's beautiful infrastructure with the ancillary facilities through the benevolence of a businessman and philanthropist, Alhaji Yacuub Adzagey who is an indigene of the area.

Aryee further said that he philanthropist for his love for sporting activities and his desire to unearth and nurture young talents in the various sports disciplines has also donated sets of football and volleyball jerseys, football boots as well as several sports kits to the school to support extra curricular activities in the school and the enclave.

Worth mentioning is the donation of a complete set of brass band equipment to the school which currently has a well trained and fledging brass band which performance overwhelms many people in the area.

"I cannot mention all that Alhaji Yacuub Adzagey has done for this school - it's just so much," Aryee eulogized the school's benefactor.

He called on other members of the community and the larger population to emulate such good and worthy causes from well-meaning individuals like Alhaji Yacuub Adzagey, geared towards improving and providing quality and accessible education to the younger generation.

On the flooding situation in the school, the headmaster said: "We had to close down the primary section and send all the learners home because all of their classrooms have been taken over by the floods - infact they couldn't even write their end of term exams before the rains set in and the subsequent flooding. It has really disrupted our academic calendar."

Aryee added: "We only are keeping the Junior High School final year learners in the newly built classroom block which has not been affected so as to get them prepared for their final exams, the BECE which is just close by."

He appealed to the relevant institutions especially the Ketu South Municipal Assembly to prioritise "some of these things and find a permanent solution to this perennial occurrence which has devastated and disrupted academic and economic activities within the Municipality".

Our team of reporters also paid similar visits to the Zion and Sukladzi Basic Schools both at Agbozume and the situation was not any different.

Currently, all basic schools are on vacation but are expected to reopen in less than two weeks, even before the end of June.

As the rains continue to fall, it is anticipated that most of these schools will remain under the floods when schools reopen.

The Regional and Municipal directorates of NADMO, were reported to have since visited the affected communities and families to assess the situation and to offer some assistance in the interim.

Many residents in the Municipality have been calling for a permanent solution to the perennial occurrence, describing efforts being made by the Authorities and NADMO as too little, too late.