Classroom collapses on KG pupils

Fifteen kindergarten pupils of the New Life Baptist Academy at Gbagbavuinu, a community near Battor in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region, are said to have sustained various degrees of injuries after their classroom collapsed on them.

Torrential winds hit the school in the afternoon last week which led to the unfortunate incident.

In all about 35 kindergarten kids- 17 boys and 18 girls-were said to be in the clay structure at the time of the disaster.

The collapsed mud structure, which serves almost 40 kindergarten pupils, was put up in 2014 by the Baptist Church to educate the children at Gbagbavuinu.

Founder of the school, Pastor Elias Mighty Ahumbley, explained that the church established the school in the community to promote education, adding that hitherto children had to walk one-and-a-half kilometers to a nearby community to attend school.

The pastor expressed gratitude to God that the devastating wind which school about 1pm was not accompanied by torrential rains.

He also thanked teachers and some community members who swiftly transported the 15 injured children across the river to the Catholic Hospital at Battor where they received medical attention and treatment.

When DAILY GUIDE visited the community, some pupils, teachers, parents and other members of the community were helping to clear the school to make way for studies.

Ten of the children have so far been discharged with the remaining responding very well to treatment. Two are expected to return to the hospital for a review.

The remaining children took part in a prayer session and offered prayers for their injured school and classmates.

One of the teachers at the school, Ernestina Xedzro appealed to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and other NGOs to come to the aid of the school.

The North Tongu District NADMO Co-ordinator, Moses Agbenudor, who sympathized with victims and their families, described the disaster as the worst in recent years.

In a related development, residents of the Battor Gbagbavuinu community have urged government to urgently provide them with basic amenities in order to link them with the rest of the world.

Speaking at a community durbar in the wake of the disaster, an elder of the community, Gago Glimevu said the disaster should be a wake-up call for government to come to their aid without any further delay.

Battor Gbagbavuinu is one of the farming communities near Battor.

The community can also be accessed through the deplorable Juapong-Mafi Adidome road or through Mepe on the Volta Lake.

Though there are high tension poles and lines in the area, they have not been connected to the national grid. They also lack portable water despite having the Volta Lake at their disposal.

Gago Glimevu, who is also a former staff of NADMO, wondered why only disasters attract government officials to their community.

He mentioned lack of potable water, electricity, deplorable roads, as well as school infrastructure as major challenges facing the people and urged government to urgently address their concerns.