REPAIR DOMITORY OF BAWKU TECHNICAL INSTITUTE (D/G Monday, March 16, 2009.PAGE 36)

THE Principal of Bawku Technical Institute, Alhaji Alhassan Umar has appealed to the government for support in rehabilitating the students’ dormitory block, which is in a deplorable state.
He noted that if nothing concrete was done about the situation, the school might not reopen for the third term, since that would be the beginning of the rainy season.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Bawku, Alhaji Umar said although the plight of the school was well known to the stakeholders of education, right from the regional to the national levels, nothing had been done about it.
The current structure housing the students was constructed over 35 years ago and has since not seen any renovation.
The two-storey building with leaking roofs, has no louvre blades and wire-netting for the windows. The wooden frames are rotten while portions of the walls have developed deep cracks, exposing the students to danger.
The original intake of the structure was 280 but has increased to more than 530 students, forcing the school authorities to convert a recreational centre and some packing rooms into dormitories. And a dormitory that used to accommodate seven students is currently accommodating 15 students.
Alhaji Umar said numerous appeals to the government through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to address the issue had not yielded any positive results.
“Matters came to a head after a recent downpour which flooded their dormitories and destroyed learning materials and other belongings,” he noted.
According to Alhaji Umar, the students, who could not withstand the hardships at the institute, recently staged a demonstration within the confines of the institution to express their displeasure at the deplorable condition in their dormitories.
The principal said at one time, he received an assurance from the GETFund of financial assistance to rehabilitate the dormitory block, but to date no such assistance had come.
He, therefore, appealed to the government as a matter of urgency, to come to the aid of the school.