The residents of Azorebisi have taken matters into their own hands to address a pressing issue by reroofing the Azorebisi Primary School.
After several failed attempts to get government assistance, the community members have mobilized resources and manpower to tackle the problem themselves.
The Azorebisi Primary School is located in Sumbrungu, a suburb of the Bolgatanga Municipality in the Upper East Region. The school had its roof ripped off by strong winds last year, leaving the building vulnerable to the weather. The ripping off of the school’s roof has left the classrooms exposed, with rainwater pouring in during heavy downpours and sunlight streaming in during sunny days.
As a result, students have had to study under the mercy of the weather, making learning difficult and uncomfortable. According to Aaron Bizoola Gandaa, a primary 6 teacher, some students have developed sight problems due to direct exposure to sunlight passing through the ripped-off roof.
“Because of the reflection of the sun, the children have even developed eye problems. After teaching and when I want to give them exercise, they find it difficult to see what I have written on the board, so I keep on changing their positions.”
The headteacher of the Azorebisi Primary and KG, Mercy Titigah said the school enrollment has declined due to the dilapidated classroom structure.
“From the KG to the lower primary, the enrollment is always good but when we get the classrooms that are mostly affected. The population now is 275 as against 364 in the last two years because nobody will want the child to sit under such conditions to study”, she lamented.
Despite appeals to the government through the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly for assistance, the school remained in a state of disrepair, affecting the education of the children in the community. Frustrated by the lack of action from authorities, the community members decided to take the matter into their own hands.
Led by the Azorebisi Development Group, they mobilized funds and began the reroofing of the school over the weekend. Charles Ayambire, Interim Chairman of the group said the community members plan to make a holistic renovation of the school that has its doors and windows broken.
“The stakeholders have disappointed us because you can’t put up a school like this and the state of the school is not fine for learning to take place, they have contacted them but they have not been able to respond actively to our call”, Mr. Ayambire lamented.
Aside from the dilapidated classroom, students of the Junior High School study under trees due to lack of a classroom structure. A classroom block that was awarded for construction and is at the foundation level has since stalled for the past 4 years. The assembly member for the Azorebisi electoral area, Elias Ayimbila Apasiya bemoaned that several pleas for the government through the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly to continue the project yielded no results.
Municipal Chief Executive for Bolgatanga, Rex Asanga while speaking to A1 Radio, commended the community members for the effort and gave the assurance the government would continue the stalled JHS project and help renovate the classroom structure when funds are available.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Azorebisi|Ghana
