A section of students in the class

The Headmistress of the A.M.E Zion School in Koforidua Madam Salome, says that students, teaching staff and other workers feel unsecured in the school due to the lack of a fence on its boundaries.
She described an incident that occurred between a teacher and a boy in the area that belongs to a group referred to as ‘marijuana boys.’
She said that these boys have been using the classrooms as hostels, and sometimes they do not want to leave the classroom for students and teachers to start lessons.
This behaviour forced one of the teachers to confront these boys and if it had not been for God on the side of the teacher, they would have killed him.
The activities of these boys have become a nuisance in not just the school but the neighbouring parts of the town.
“Our school is not fenced, and that makes it susceptible for vehicles and motorcycles to use the campus as a road in order to avoid traffic and drive through as a shortcut route for them to reach their destination,” she added.
She said that some vehicles move with very disturbing and interrupting noise, which is very bad as it affects students’ ability to focus fully on what their teachers may be teaching at that particular time.
A student’s attention can be distracted from the lesson by the noise that comes from the moving vehicles, which can make them miss some key words or sentences that may be essential to understanding the lesson, and sometimes the teachers would have to pause for the moving vehicles to pass before they continue with the lesson.
It puts students at risk of being knocked down by the vehicles, which might result in death or deformation.
Another challenge she spoke about was the lack of chairs and tables for the students to sit on.
She said four students shares one mono desk. The classrooms are not spacious for more tables and chairs.
Talking to some of the students, they said the classrooms become very hot in the afternoon because they are many and the windows are small. This makes teaching and learning difficult for both the teachers and the students.
According to Madam Salome, this has been one major nightmare the school has been dealing with for some time now and would appreciate if the authorities treat the situation as urgent.
She said the school wishes to undertake the walling or fencing as its own project but lack the funds to do so.
She has asked for funds or any kind of support from non-governmental organisations, stakeholders, parents and concerned people to come to the aid of the school to help them put up a fence around the school.
“The wellbeing of the school children and the teachers must be paramount to all; that is why we are urging philanthropists and other organisations to come to our aid. Apart from the fence, we also need more classrooms to enable the student to learn in decent classrooms and provided with more tables and chairs.

Boakye Patricia
(Ghana Institute of Journalism)