Floods throw out JHS pupils

Students of the Bedu-Addo Methodist Junior High School (JHS) in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis were thrown out of their classrooms following torrential rains, which flooded the classrooms as a result of leakages in the roofs last Friday.

At the time this reporter got to the school, some of the students in the affected classrooms had joined their colleagues in other classrooms whilst others had perched their seats under a tree.

Form three students who were writing exams in preparation for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) had to run with their question papers for shelter.

Water leakages were seen all over the building, peeling off the emulsion paints on the building whereas cracks were developing on some parts of the building. The teachers and students deemed the situation as worrisome since it hampered learning and affected academic work.

Assistant Headteacher, Mr. Ruben Kofitse, who spoke to Today in an interview, lamented that effective education can never go on when the future nation builders sit and learn in the water whenever it rains.

In view of this, he called on the local authorities, metro education office, the Methodist Church, NGOs, corporate organizations and the general public to assist the school to provide roofing for the building.

He hinted that the school has been able to raise some funds and needed support to provide roofing on the building to stop the leakages and also provide extra rooms to ease the congestion in the classrooms.

However, he said, no efforts to get the city authorities, corporate entities and the metro education directorate to assist the school in roofing the building yielded results.

Mr. Kofitse retorted that teachers would lay down their chalks and lock the classroom doors if the situation persists.