Students, teachers of Maase RC Primary School cry for help over death trap building

Correspondence from Ashanti Region

Parents, teachers, and students at the Maase R/C Primary and Junior High School have bemoaned the devastating state of their school building.

The school, within the Afigya Kwabre South district of the Ashanti region, is gradually collapsing from the roof to the building itself.

The death trap school has left students, parents, and teachers in fear at Maase, a small town near Atimatim.

A visit to the school by GhanaWeb's Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Nana Peprah, revealed that the school lacks almost everything, including desks, textbooks, and other teaching and learning materials.

Apart from the rusting state of its roofing sheets, there were many big holes that have been created in them, directly exposing the students to a scorching sun and rain.

Some parents who spoke to GhanaWeb stated that the school is compelled to shut down anytime it rains.

They said the development has impacted negatively on the academic work of their wards, adding that it makes them perform abysmally in B.E.C.E.

Some teachers who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity revealed that most students and teachers do not find it pleasant to stay in the death trap classrooms that have also become habitat for goats, snakes, lizards, and other dangerous reptiles.

Wee smokers and night owls, they say, also play a role because the school is typically a free-to-enter facility due to the lack of a fence wall and doors for most of the classrooms.

“The situation is very disheartening and worrying. The poor condition of the school is affecting teaching and learning in the school. Some of our colleagues usually come here and run away due to the unendingly devastating state of the school," one teacher said.

Some students who spoke to GhanaWeb also revealed that they are usually compelled to run home for safety cover when it is raining due to the shaking nature of the building.

"We're pleading with the authority to come to our aid. We don't want the school to collapse on us," they lamented.

Meanwhile, some parents reiterated that none of the schools in the area have ever seen children since their establishment.

"Our wards usually study under this death trap school, which gives them pressure and all kinds of fear," a parent stated.

They have called on the government, philanthropists, individuals and other NGOs to come to their aid.