Students sleep on trunks at Mfantsipim School (PHOTO)

• Posted on November 19, 2014November 19, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• 1 Comment

Students of the Mfantsipim Senior High School in the Central region say they are unable to study well because of lack of sleeping places in the school.

The school has become congested because authorities have been admitting students beyond the quota given them. As a result, students, in pairs, sleep on trunks and chop boxes in the night.

Joy News’ investigations have revealed that the situation has persisted for some time now while authorities of the school look on unconcerned.

Joy News’ Richard Kwadwo Nyarko slipped into one of the dormitories, dressed in his prep wear and entered the dormitory with the students who were returning from preps at about 9pm.   The students chat among themselves heartily as they prepare to beat the light out time.

He observed the students pull their chop boxes and trunks; pull their mattresses ready to go to bed. The dormitories are as congested as the word itself.

One after the other, the students in this dormitory, put their mattreses on either one chop box or the other. Imagine a student of about 5.8, 5.7 feet and 5.6 feet sleeping on a two feet shop box or trunk? The students naturally struggle to sleep the night away.

As a result of the of discomfort that comes with sleeping on the trunks and chop boxes, some of the students sleep in pairs on the bed. This may promote gayism. The beds are simply not enough in all the dormitories he visited.

Later in the afternoon, some of the students narrated their ordeal to Kojo Nyarko: “When you wake up your whole body would be paining you even when you go to the classroom, you will not be able to cope with the teacher whilst he is teaching.”

Another said, “Sometimes a student may even fall from the bed or chop box. Due to this they do not sleep throughout the whole night, and when they come to class they will be sleeping and would not pay attention.”

At the recent speech and prize giving day celebration of the school, the old boys who visited some of the dormitories expressed misgivings about the situation during the siesta period of the students.

The headmaster of the school who agreed to speak with Richard Kojo Nyarko about the findings later on directed him to the Regional Director of Education after he told him what he found was normal and it was prevalent in all schools and not Mfantsipim alone.

According to him, what was found was no news to warrant his attention. To him, it is a school that everyone wants to send his ward to and it is not his fault if there is congestion.

Joynews’ investigation further revealed Mfantsipim School, admitted almost 1100 students out of the quota of 600 that the school was given in the just ended admission process. As a result, the classrooms are congested. There are no spaces for science practicals to be done because of the huge numbers involved.

Teachers of the school complain of the situation but shy away from the recorder as they do not want to be victimized. According to them, gradually, the performances of the students are declining as a result of the happenings. The teachers cite the failure of a lot of students in mathematics and history.

Most of the facilities joynews toured in the course of this investigation are in a deplorable state. Some of the buildings have not been painted for years.

Meanwhile, some Old Boys of Mfantsipim have expressed anger about the situation and are calling for something to be done urgently to save the image of their beloved school.

-IE