By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Bolgatanga, Sept 16, GNA – Pupils with special needs at the St Charles Special School in the Bolgatanga Municipality have been found defecating openly for lack of a toilet facility.
That problem of the school, situated in the heart of Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital, compels the 105 pupils to engage in open defecation.
A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to the premises saw some students using the back of the school as a place of convenience, under the neem trees.
Established in 2005, the school had a three-seater toilet but that was demolished by the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly in 2017 after a restaurant close to the premises complained of stench emanating from the washroom and leakage in the septic tank.
The school had since not had a toilet facility, compelling the pupils to practice open defecation, posing public health issues to them, the staff and the public.
Apart from that the school has only two classrooms, thus housing over 50 students in a class, which was against the standard admission for special students of about 15 per class.
Ms Fatima Samari, the Headteacher, said the lack of washrooms was affecting academic work as most pupils had to return home whenever they had to answer nature’s call.
She said land was available for the construction of a toilet facility and appealed to the Government, non-governmental organisations, and philanthropists among others to go to their aid.
She said many of the students were orphans and needed support to help them stay in school.
“Some of the students were benefiting from the disability fund from the Assembly but for some time now the school has not received any and so we are appealing for support,” she said.
Mr Godfery Titigah, the Special Needs Education Coordinator, Bolgatanga Municipality, said the problems of the school were numerous, ranging from inadequate teaching and learning materials to infrastructure deficit.
There were only two special need schools in the region that admitted children with intellectual disabilities, he said, and appealed to the Assembly and other donor agencies to support the school to ensure inclusiveness in access to education.
Mr Frederick Ayine Agunga-Dongo, the Public Relations Officer, Bolgatanga Municipal Directorate of Education, said the directorate was aware of the problems the school faced and had been working with stakeholders to have them resolved.
Mr Rex Asanga, the Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, said the Assembly was aware of some of the issues and it had donated furniture to the school, however, the lack of washroom had not come to its attention.
He pledged to ensure the problem was resolved and appealed to other organisations for support.
GNA