No toilet for over 2000 pupils in a Ghanaian school

...epidemic outbreak looms

By Justice Lee Adoboe

For the over 2028 pupils of three basic schools sharing the Dansoman 2 Primary and JHS compound, their most basic need is a toilet facility.

Heads of the three schools, Dansoman 2 Primary and JHS, Dansoman 1 Primary and the Ebenezer A.M.E Zion Basic schools have all confirmed to this reporter that there is no toilet facility on the compound.

The compound is located at Dansoman-Estate (Sahara) around Church of Pentecost, and the 2028 pupils have to cross the main road to attend nature’s call at the public toilet.

This situation according to the heads of schools affect teaching and learning, as some pupils go to the public toilets and don’t return to school early or stay away for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile it has also been confirmed that there are no hand-washing facilities either in the public toilet or in the school for the pupils to wash their hands after visiting the toilet, or before eating.

The Dansoman 2 Primary and JHS has an enrolment figure of at least 873 pupils ( 374 boys and 499 girls) but have no toilet in the school.

In an interview with members of the Ghana WASH Journalist’s Network (GWJN) who were in the area to collect data on toilets and hand-washing facilities in schools towards the recent Global Hand-Washing Day celebrations, Headmaster of the school, David Adjoteye, disclosed that the school toilets had been destroyed for the past five years.

According to Mr. Adjoteye a contract had been awarded to a contractor for refurbishment but has been delayed for several months without progress.

“The situation is disturbing as pupils have to spend their pocket monies whenever they must visit the toilet,” he lamented, adding that this situation affects feeding by the pupils.

According to Mr. Adjoteye, apart from the absence of toilet facilities’ and hand washing bowls , another worrying situation confronting the school is the issue of immoral activities by unscrupulous persons and outsiders who smoke Indian hemp and indulge in other vises which are harmful to the students and the school as well. He called on the police to help the school in warding-off those criminals.

Meanwhile, there is also the Dansoman 1 Primary School with a population of 331 pupils (134 boys and 197 girls on the same compound.)

The headmistress, Ms Dora Danquah said the Urban IV Project had provided a 5-seater toilet for the school in the 1990s, but owing to the unavailability of water, “the place is not in use.”

“Formerly, two cubicles each were assigned to the boys and girls while all teachers used one, but as we don’t have water flowing in the school again we all use the public toilet,” she added.

She added however that since the pre-school children could not cross the roads independently to visit the public toilet; water was bought for them to use one of the toilet cubicles.

The Ebenezer AME Basic Schools has a population of 824 pupils, (456 girls and 368 boys), but they also don’t have any toilet facility. The Headmaster, Emmanuel Agordoh told the team that the school used to be at a different location near Zamarama Line, until the end of the 2010/2011 academic year when the city mayor, Alfred Vanderpuje asked them to relocate to the present premises.

“The toilet issue is a very disturbing one for us, and we need a solution to it as soon as possible,” he said.

Both pupils and teachers who spoke to the reporter called for urgent action to get toilet facilities for the schools to avert any epidemic outbreak.

In all three schools there is no hand-washing facility for the use of the pupils either after visiting the public toilet or before meals.

Meanwhile the situation was not different in other schools visited in the Ablekuma Sub-metro.

In the Akwei Bu basic Schools established in 1972 with pupil strength of 583 pupils, (217 boys and 366 girls), the headmistress, Agatha Dzathor lamented the insufficient toilet facilities.

Madam Dzathor expressed gratitude to Member of Parliament (MP) of the area (Ablekuma South) Hon. Fritz Barfuor who came to the aid of the school to construct a 5-seater toilet facility for the school.

“Although the facility is woefully inadequate for the school with a population of 583 pupils, it serves a better purpose than the previous pit latrine,” she added.

The toilet is distributed as, two each for boys and girls, while all teachers (both male and female) use one.

Speaking to this reporter, Hon. Barfuor said when he visited the school he saw a pit latrine right in the middle of the compound, with the stench it emitted.

“So I used part of my MPs Common Fund to build the toilet they use currently for them so at least they can have a decent toilet in the school,” said the MP.

He said he was aware of the situations in the school but said some of the facilities had been awarded on contract and work could begin soon on them.

Source: The Lead

In an interview with the team, the Circuit Supervisor Mr. David Adjoteye, disclosed that the school toilets had been broken for the past five years.

He said a contract had been awarded to a contractorfor refurbishment but has been delayed for several months without any move.

Some of the pupils noted because there is no toilet in the school, both the teachers and the pupils go outside to urinate whiles some of the pupils do it in the school thus polluting the air with bad smells sometimes during class hours, since they don’t want to miss lessons.

There was no water, soap nor hand-washing bowls for washing hands after visiting the public toilet or before handling food.

As stated earlier, the situation in Dansoman 2 Primary and JHS is peculiar, in that this school with a total number of at least 873 pupils. It however shares the same compound with two other schools: Dansoman 1 Primary School and Ebenezer A.M.E Zion Basic Schools.

Ebenezer AME Basic Schools has a population of 824 pupils.( 456 girls and 368 boys), but they also don’t have any toilet facility. The Headmaster, Emmanuel Agordoh told the team that they used to be at an old place near Zamarama Line, until the end of the 2010/2011 academic year when the city mayor, Alfred Vanderpuje asked them to relocate to the present premises.

“The toilet issue is a very disturbing one for us, and we need a solution to it as soon as possible,” he said.

In addition to this, there is also the Dansoman 1 Primary School with a population of 331 pupils (134 boys and 197 girls on the same compound.)

The headmistress, Ms Dora Danquah said the Urban IV Project had provided a 5-seater toilet for the school in the, but owing to the unavailability of water, the place in not in use.

“Formerly, two cubicles each were assigned to the boys and girls while all teachers used one, but as we don’t have water flowing in the school again we all use the public toilet.

She added that since the pre-school children could not cross the road to visit the public toilet, water was bought for them to use one of the toilet cubicles.

In both schools there is no hand-washing facility for children to use, either after visiting the public toilet or before meals.

That 2028 pupils go to school on one compound, without any toilet facilities available is a very worrying situation. We are all aware of how fast epidemics such as cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea and many others can spread.

It is very important for urgent steps to be taken by city and educational authorities to provide these schools with water and toilet facilities so the nation can avoid a major epidemic outbreak.