Navrongo SHS will not admit first years- Chiefs fear

The Navrongo Traditional Council has expressed worry about the Navrongo Senior High School (NAVASCO)’s inability to admit first year students in the 2012/2013 academic year due to lack of space.

They said this is as a result of the effects of a severe rainstorm that hit Navrongo destroying two dormitory blocks, the dining hall, classrooms and teachers bungalows of the school.

The Council, made up of Chiefs of the Navrongo Traditional area called on Government, the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) to help allocate funds for the rehabilitation of the structures.

This was contained in a press statement made available to the Ghana News Agency after an emergency meeting convened by the Chiefs of the Navrongo Traditional Council, to deliberate on the state of the Navrongo SHS following the rainstorm.

The statement signed by Arthur Wekem Balinia Adda, Acting Navro Pio, said more rains in the area would force school authorities to close down the school as there is evidence of the remaining structures being ripped off by future storms and ultimately affecting the academic calendar.

The statement said overcrowding of students in classrooms coupled with a new shift system for the teaching of students which run as late as 10pm, was stressful and this has caused some students to take refuge with friends in neighbouring areas.

It said NAVASCO after its establishment in 1960 as one of the Trust Fund Schools in Ghana, has seen little or no maintenance and that the roofs of the school building have outlived their life span, making the school prone to the least rainstorm.

The Council and school authorities therefore called on development partners in the educational sector including Embassies, Non governmental Organizations, the Otumfo Osei Tutu Educational Fund; to assist in the rehabilitation of the school to enable it admit students for ensuing academic years.

It also appealed to sons and daughters of the Kasena-Nankana District, old boys and girls to rise to the challenge by convening similar meetings to discuss the situation and contribute to the immediate needs of the school.

The Navrongo Senior High School has a total population of 1,700 students, offering six programmes including Science, Agricultural Science, General Arts, home Economics, Visual Arts and Business.**