Okonam M/A School: Pupils learn with snakes in untidy classrooms

Teachers and pupils of Okonam Municipal Assembly school in the Suhum Municipality of the Eastern Region are being haunted by snakes in their crumbling classrooms.

Apart from the threat of getting bitten by snakes and other poisonous reptiles that invade the classrooms during school hours, both the Teachers and pupils are also forced to use the bush as lavatories due to lack of toilet facilities in the school, a situation which also exposes them to harm.

The school, according to report, was established in 1928 and started from the lower Primary, but after several years it can only boast of an uncompleted Junior High level building.

Management of the school who could no longer depend on government to address their plight has resorted to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), corporate bodies and individuals to come to their aid.

The acting headmaster of the school, Nana Dede–Wadee lamented over the situation reiterating that the school could collapse if government fails to come to their aid.

Nana Dede–Wadee who could not hide his frustration reiterated that “This wasn’t how the big six planned for Ghana.

The JHS building has collapsed almost 4 years now but there has been no effort to reconstruct it.

The JHS buildings, according to him, were started by the erstwhile Kufuor administration through the Ghana Educational Trust Fund (GETFUND), but have virtually come to a halt after the NPP left office.

Against that background, he called on government and philanthropists to, as a matter of national importance, come to their aid.

However, some of the students speaking to Brytfmonline.com lamented over the deplorable conditions.

A female pupil, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “There have been several occasions that we students have to battle with snakes for our lives. Snakes bite us because we live in the same building with them due to the state of the building”.

She continued that, “This situation sometimes makes us to lose concentration in class. We always get frightened whenever the sky is filled with thick heavy clouds. We are scared that the building will collapse on us when the rain pours down. This makes us to put pressure on our teachers to close us because we feel save when we are home.”