Ms. Ama Doris Bramson, Headmistress of Saint Mary’s Senior High School on Saturday said the major challenge facing the school was the storm drain that passes through the school.

Ms Bramson, who said this during the school’s 64th speech and prize- giving day, noted that the drain, which is discussed at most Board meetings, measures approximately 200 metres long, 4.5 metres wide and 2 metres deep, and runs through the school from Korle–Gonno and extends as far as into the lagoon, right behind the school.

She said the open drain carries not only pungent waste and breeds mosquitoes, but also faeces which are dumped into it by indigenes from Korle- Gonno.

She noted that miscreants from around the school use the open drain as a thoroughfare and to steal from the school, as well as a place of convenience; an activity performed in the full glare of the students.

The Headmistress expressed her dissatisfaction on the issue saying that, “several appeals have been made to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) whose responsibility it is to clean and maintain the drain, but very little has been done about it”.

She said in the previous years, the school suffered serious flooding and mounting filth, which threatened lives and properties.

Ms. Ama Doris Bramson passionately appealed to the AMA to critically consider the dangers and health hazards caused by the drain.

She revealed that the Six-Unit Classroom Block which was awarded in June 2010 for the intake of the four- year students was at a standstill.

“This challenge definitely accounts for the limited space available each year for Form One intake,” she stated.

The Headmistress said the school currently admits 250 Form One students, as compared to about 400-600 students in other second cycle institutions in the country.

She said a forty Seater Water Closet for the students is at a complete standstill for close to two years.

She appealed to the Ministry of Education and the GETFUND to release funds for the completion of these projects, which were long overdue, to reduce the stress on the students.