Over two years after it was finished, the GETFund-built girls’ dormitory block for Asanteman Senior High School is still not open for use.
While the school is grappling with accommodation challenges due to the huge infrastructural deficit it is facing, authorities of the school say they are unable to use the new facility due to security concerns.
The authorities say the location of the new dormitory is outrun by squatters which makes it dangerous to move students there without the necessary measures.
Assistant Headmistress in charge of Domestic, Georgina Osei, said the dormitory has been completed, but a water system is yet to be fixed “but we can make use of the dormitory while we wait for the water to be added.”
“Because of the challenges of space here, we are thinking of sending some of the form ones there. We have spoken to the relevant authorities, and we wrote to the regional director of education and the regional minister but nothing was done about the security concerns that we raised.”
“We will be happy if the authorities can come to our aid so that the place will be secured for us for use,” Madam Osei further appealed.
On his part, the Kumasi Metropolitan Educational Director, David Oppong, said: “the discussions and consultations that we have done with the headmaster indicate that the block is completed, but the problem is that they have to be supplied with water which hasn’t yet been done. The second issue has to do with security because a number of squatters have taken up the place. So before the students can be accommodated in that dormitory, the security must be beefed up. The discussion we had with the management is that while waiting for the government to recruit security personnel to the school, the PTA should step in and hire temporary staff to secure the place, so the students can be moved there.”