FCT community school where pupils sit on bare floor to learn

Pupils of the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School in Pachiwa, a settlement in Rimba-Ebagi ward of the Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), attend classes in dilapidated classrooms and sit on the bare floor to learn. When Abuja Metro visited the school on Tuesday, it observed that one of the two […]

Pupils of the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School in Pachiwa, a settlement in Rimba-Ebagi ward of the Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), attend classes in dilapidated classrooms and sit on the bare floor to learn.

When Abuja Metro visited the school on Tuesday, it observed that one of the two classrooms – built alongside the head teacher’s office by the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) in 2010 – had fallen into serious disrepair.

The ceilings in both classrooms have either collapsed or are badly damaged. The walls are cracked, the windows are missing, and there are no desks or chairs for pupils or teachers.

Over the years, the lack of desks has forced pupils to sit on the bare floor during lessons, a condition parents say has made learning difficult for both the children and their teachers.

A parent, Mr. Danjuma Shilani, said the situation worsens during the rainy season when the classrooms are flooded.

“Whenever it rains, there is no school because the classrooms have no windows or doors. The pupils still sit on the bare floor, so they cannot attend lessons,” he said.

He added that community leaders, in collaboration with the school’s Parents Teachers Association (PTA), had written several letters to the LEA office in Abaji over the last four years but received no response.

“The village chief selected some elders and the PTA chairman to sign complaint letters to the LEA about the school’s condition, but nothing has been done,” he said.

The PTA chairman, Audu Galadima, described the state of the school as worrisome, saying all efforts to get the attention of the authorities have yielded no results.

“Pupils sit on the bare floor, and teachers sit on the window frames because there are no desks or chairs,” he said, adding that requests to replace broken furniture over the past two years were ignored.

A teacher, who identified himself as Moses, said the school faces several challenges, including dilapidated structures, inadequate furniture, and a shortage of teachers.

“With over 200 pupils from Primary 1 to 6, we have no teaching aids,” he said. “If you had come earlier, you would have seen how the pupils wrote their exams on the bare floor.”

The head teacher, Stephen Luka, also lamented the situation, saying the school urgently needs renovation and furniture. He appealed to the council authorities and the FCT UBEB to intervene.

The village chief of Pachiwa, HRH Aguma Musa Sarki, described the situation as disheartening, especially during the rainy season when pupils stay home due to leaking roofs and flooding.

“Anytime it rains, there is no school because the classrooms flood. The roofs leak, the windows are gone, and pupils still sit on the bare floor,” he said.

He urged the government to renovate the school and provide furniture to create a conducive learning environment.

Efforts to reach Dr. Hassan Suleiman, FCT Director of UBEB, were unsuccessful as calls were not returned.

However, a senior board official who preferred not to be named told our reporter that the school has been captured in the Abaji Area Council’s list of primary schools slated for renovation and furniture supply.

“The LEA Primary School in Pachiwa is among the schools already captured for renovation and provision of furniture,” the official said.