The headmistress of Navrongo Senior High School (NAVASCO), Mrs. Mercy Babachuweh, has outlined some of the pressing challenges facing the school during the institution’s 8th Speech and Prize-Giving Day celebration.
The headmistress mentioned inadequate staff accommodation, bat-infested dormitory blocks, and a destroyed school dam as some of the major issues requiring urgent attention.
Mrs. Babachuweh explained that many of the existing staff quarters are in deplorable condition, with broken asbestos roofs posing serious health risks to occupants. She appealed for the construction of additional bungalows to house more teaching and non-teaching staff, which she said would also help strengthen discipline among students.
“Many of the existing staff accommodations are in bad condition. The broken asbestos roofs are a health hazard. An increased number of bungalows would mean more teaching and non-teaching staff on campus,” she said.
She also raised concern about two dormitory blocks — Livingston/Ferguson and Nkrumah/Guggisberg — which have long been infested with bats. Despite repeated fumigation exercises, the issue persists. Mrs. Babachuweh noted that the only lasting solution is to re-roof the buildings and appealed to old students from the affected houses to intervene.
“Fumigation and other measures have failed to solve the problem. The solution lies in re-roofing to prevent the bats from entering. Old students of these houses should please come to our aid,” she added.
Additionally, the headmistress disclosed that heavy rains had destroyed the school’s dam, which has become heavily silted with a broken spillway.
“Officials from the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) have presented a bill of GHC 12,052.20, covering field survey, mapping, design, drawing, costing, and reporting. We call on NABIA and the Municipal Assembly to come to our aid. Restoring the dam will enable us to fully participate in the Presidential Initiative in Agriculture during the dry season,” she stated.
Representing the Minister for Education, Dr. Haruna Iddrisu, who is an old student of NAVASCO, Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Clement Abas Apaak, assured the school of the government’s commitment to addressing these challenges as part of the Reset Agenda for education.
The 8th Speech and Prize-Giving Day, organized by the 1984 Year Group, was held under the theme “Countering Drug Abuse: Measures and Strategies Towards Effective Teaching and Learning for Building Ghana’s Human Capital.”
Chairing the event, the Paramount Chief of the Sagnarigu Traditional Area and former Ambassador to Senegal, Naa Ambassador Yakubu Abdulai, described substance abuse as one of the greatest threats to education, discipline, and national development, calling for urgent and collective action to curb the menace.
Source: A1Radioonline.com | 101.1 MHz | David Azure | Navrongo
