Classrooms, headmaster’s office on verge of collapse

Pupils of the Nomadic Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School, Tudun Wada, in Yangoji community of Kwali Area Council, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are at risk as classrooms and the headmaster’s office have deteriorated and are on the verge of collapse. Abuja Metro, which visited the school along the Abuja-Lokoja Highway on Saturday, observed that […]

Pupils of the Nomadic Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School, Tudun Wada, in Yangoji community of Kwali Area Council, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are at risk as classrooms and the headmaster’s office have deteriorated and are on the verge of collapse.

Abuja Metro, which visited the school along the Abuja-Lokoja Highway on Saturday, observed that part of a block containing three classrooms had nearly collapsed, while several walls were badly cracked.

The ceilings in some of the classrooms had also caved in, leaving only a few desks and chairs inside.

A parent, Musa Awwal, said the classroom blocks had never undergone renovation since they were constructed many years ago.

According to him, cracks began appearing in one block of three classrooms and the headmaster’s office more than two years ago, before part of the structure eventually collapsed following a recent windstorm.

He said parents had repeatedly drawn the attention of the Local Education Authority (LEA) to the deteriorating condition of the classrooms and urged the authority to liaise with the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) for intervention, but nothing had been done.

“In fact, even before parts of the classroom collapsed, I informed the chairman of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), who later met with officials of the LEA in Kwali, but nothing has been done,” he said.

Another parent, Yakubu Alhassan, described the condition of the classrooms as a serious threat to the lives of both pupils and teachers.

He said it was disturbing that children continued to learn in buildings that could collapse at any time.

“Fortunately, the section that collapsed came down during the weekend after a heavy windstorm and not during school hours. Only God knows what could have happened if pupils had been in class at the time,” he said.

Alhassan appealed to the FCT UBEB to urgently renovate the classrooms to provide a safe and conducive learning environment.

A teacher at the school, who requested anonymity, said the remaining two classroom blocks were also in a dilapidated condition.

According to him, their walls are cracked and parts of the ceilings have caved in, making teaching and learning difficult.

He said the affected classrooms accommodate Nursery I, Nursery II and Primary One pupils, numbering about 102.

“We had to evacuate the children and merge them with pupils in other classes. Allowing them to remain there would have been too dangerous,” he said.

The Chairman of the Parents Teachers Association, Mohammed Usman, also expressed concern over the state of the school.

He said the association had written to the LEA requesting repairs and urging it to seek UBEB’s intervention, but no action had been taken.

“Because of the danger, I advised the headmaster to move the children into other classrooms for their safety,” he said.

An LEA official in Kwali Area Council, Barnabas Moses, said photographs of the damaged structures had been attached to a letter forwarded to UBEB for intervention.

“Before the school resumed, officials visited the site, took photographs and forwarded them to UBEB. We are awaiting action to rehabilitate not just the affected classroom but the entire school,” he said.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the FCT UBEB, Ibrahim Awwal, could not be reached for comment.

However, a senior official of the board, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed that UBEB had received reports about the school’s condition.

 

“The proposal is being considered and I believe renovation work will commence soon because the file is already being processed,” he said.