When in May 2014, a rainstorm shaved off the roof of a portion of a block of six classrooms in the Community Primary School, Owode Titun, Ado/Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, the pupils and members of staff thought that the government would quickly intervene in repairing the damaged structure.
However, almost two years after, the building remains a shadow of itself while it seems that its pupils and members of staff have resigned to fate.
When our correspondent visited the school on Thursday, pupils were seen learning under a long shed, which was covered with rusting aluminium sheet.
Teachers in the school, who declined to speak with our correspondent, were seen also sitting in the sun facing the shed. Classes ran simultaneously while pupils at the back of each class were seen struggling to listen to their tutors amid blaring of horns from vehicles passing by.
It was learnt that the rickety shed, which had no demarcation, doors or windows, was constructed by the Parent-Teacher-Association of the 18-year-old school. This makeshift arrangement has been the site for learning for four classes of the school.
The PTA Chairman, Mr. Olajide Tanimola, said visits to the Ado-Odo Ota Council Development Area had not resulted in any positive development. He also lamented that hoodlums stole desks and chairs from the shed on a daily basis.
Tanimola said, “It is a pity that a school built by the community close to two decades and taken over by the government has no building for pupils to learn. We have visited the council and they promised to come since 2014. Many parents have withdrawn their children from the school. When the sun gets too much, pupils run back home. During the harmattan, especially last January, our children studied in the extreme cold and dust. Now, the rainy season is approaching, yet the environment is not good enough for learning. There is no fence and this has exposed the facilities in the school to thieves.
“This school serves about eight neighbourhoods in Owode Titun. Many of us cannot afford to send our children to private schools. This is not an IDP camp, why should children learn under these harsh conditions? It is not right. We are appealing to the state government to help us with better buildings, toilets and a sick bay in the school. We have constructed the foundation for a block of two classrooms and a staffroom in December. The PTA paid N150,000 for that but we cannot go on. We need the government to support us.”
Another PTA executive, Pa Raimi Bakare, urged the state government to provide an alternative block of classrooms to pupils before resumption later this month. The 75-year-old also expressed regret over the activities of youths in the community who, he claimed had converted the school premises into a football pitch.
“It is true that we need classrooms for the children, but a school fence is also very important. When they play football here, they damage our children’s desks. There was a day that they harassed the security guard just because he cautioned them against damaging chairs and desks. The government should please help us to address these problems because schools are going on vacation tomorrow (Friday). They should also provide the community with a police post. We have even thought of taking the children on a rally to Abeokuta to protest but the bus driver charged us N25,000. Where are we going to get that? Most of us are retirees with grandchildren living with us,” he said.
However, the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology Mrs. Modupe Mujota, has said the school would soon be provided with a befitting structure.
According to her, the state government had launched a programme to construct modern school structures, which would replace existing infrastructure.
Mujota, who spoke in a an email interview with our correspondent, also urged resident in the state to “support the government through the payment of their taxes and to support in ensuring.
