Oforikrom SDA Basic School seeks urgent assistance amidst infrastructure deficiencies

The Oforikrom SDA Basic School in the Techiman South Municipality of the Bono East region, has cried out for assistance to address its dire infrastructure deficiencies.

The school, which serves as a beacon of education for hundreds of students in Oforikrom and its environs for 80 years, is in dire need of upgraded facilities to ensure a conducive learning environment.

The current state of the school’s infrastructure is woefully inadequate, with crumbling classroom blocks, inadequate toilet facilities, and a lack of access to clean drinking water. These substandard conditions pose significant challenges to students and teachers, hindering the learning process and compromising the overall educational experience.

Headteacher of the Oforikrom SDA Primary School, Mr. Bofo Robert, in an interview with the media disclosed that, despite the dedicated efforts of the school’s administration, staff, and the Parents-Teacher Association, the financial constraints has hindered the ability to make the necessary improvements.

According to him, the situation has reached a critical juncture, and the school is appealing to local authorities, non-profit organizations, and well-meaning individuals to come forward and offer assistance.

“Our main reason being here today, is that we have a lot of challenges in the school, you can see that the roof of the classroom has been ripped off, we have written a lot of letters to the Municipal Assembly, Education Office, and the Mid-North Ghana Conference seeking for help but we are yet to get a response from them.

“The state of the classroom block keeps on deteriorating, aside the poor nature of our classroom blocks, we lack basic facilities such as a toilet facility, a urinal and we don’t even have access to clean drinking water. The school’s authority and the PTA have tried to at least build a toilet facility but due to financial constraints, we couldn’t. So we are pleading with the Techiman South Municipal Assembly, government, NGOs and all well meaning Ghanaians to come to our aid.” He said

Mr. Bofo Robert, made this assertion during the launch of the school’s 80^th anniversary celebration under the theme, “80 Years of Educating the Ghanaian Child, Our Story, Our Future”. He used the occasion to highlight some of the achievements the school has chalked over the years in both academics and extra-curricular activities.

“Our theme for the anniversary is 80 Years of Educating the Ghanaian Child, Our Story, Our Future, the school has contributed to the overall development of the country in terms of developing the country’s human resources.

“There are 2021 schools in the Techiman East circuit, the school is currently the reigning champion of the cultural competition in this circuit, in sports, we were second in the 2019 circuit football competition, and first in athletics. In 2021, we won the soccer competition in the circuit and 2nd in the inter-circuit soccer games. We are currently the champions in both the circuit and inter-circuit soccer competitions.

“In academics, 2019, we presented 43 learners to write the BECE, unfortunately only 18 passed, the following year 2020, we had 74 candidates sitting for the BECE, 69 passed, in 2021, 67 out of 68 of our learners passed the BECE, in 2022, we presented 49 learners and all of them passed, just last year all of our 63 candidates passed the BECE.

“So clearly, the authorities of the school are doing their best as far as teaching and learning is concerned but with these infrastructure deficiencies, we are really struggling, I plead with all and sundry to come to our aid.” Mr. Bofo Robert told our reporter.

The Techiman South Municipal Director of Education, Mr. John Kwadwo Amisa, also appealed to stakeholders and other philanthropists to as a matter of urgency come to the aid of the school as the government alone can’t uplift the image of the school.

“The Education Directorate, is aware of the challenges the school is facing, we have also written letters to the Techiman South Municipal Assembly and we keep on pushing for the best of this school and all schools in the municipality.

“We understand that government is doing its best to improve the standard of education in our country but government alone cannot do it, so we therefore plead with all philanthropists and stakeholders of education to also come to our aid and help uplift the image of the Oforikrom SDA Basic School because the school is doing very well in terms of academics.” He said

The school’s administration is hopeful that with the support of the community, they can work towards transforming the school into a modern, well-equipped educational institution that can provide a superior learning experience for its students.

Source: Elvisanokyenews.com