Apana Mixed Secondary School in Etsako-West Local Government Area of Edo State serves diametrically opposed purposes, as reported by TrackaNG.
Tracka notes that while the public school is used as school in the daytime, unscrupulous elements invade the premises at night and use it for nefarious purposes.
Tracka was created in 2014 to track the implementation of government projects in various communities to ensure service delivery.
The NGO says it enables citizens to collaborate, track and give feedback on public projects in their community, and, is itself, a project by BudgITng.
According to Tracka in a blogpost, anyone who enters one of the classrooms at the school would think that they are “in a war-torn building preserved for historical purposes.”
“The ceilings are completely torn, there are no windows in the classrooms, and the furniture is not enough for students,” the NGO reports, adding, “We spoke with the principal, who lamented the state of things.”
Part of the problem is that the school has no fence, Tracka quotes the principal as saying.
“Since I was transferred to this school in 2019, we’ve been facing a lot of challenges. We don’t have enough teachers in the school. Before the community intervened, we had only one teacher, plus myself. That’s two teachers, and it is challenging,” the principal told Tracka.
Over 500 students in the school are taught by only two teachers. The two teach 11 subjects and at least nine classes daily.
One of the teachers, name withheld, told us how they couldn’t improve their teaching mode because of the situation.
“We were given computers to advance the students’ learning, but there is nowhere to keep it in the school and no electricity. Everything we want to do for the children has been rendered useless because of lack of amenities.” said the teacher.
The school environment is also fuelling thuggery and hooliganism. According to the principal, hooligans have made the school their base because there is no fence and nobody dares caution them.
“We urge the Edo State Government and relevant stakeholders to look into this alarming situation,” says TrackaNG.
(The PUNCH)
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