By Richmond B. Tholley
School pupils of a primary school in Northern Sierra Leone were left with no option but to use an old and dilapidated school building after all efforts to access their new building had failed.
School pupils attending the Benevolent Islamic Primary School Kumrabai Station in Khalifa Mabang Chiefdom, Tonkolili District, are currently exposed to danger after they are seen in a dilapidated building that is posing a threat to their lives.
The building is not only dilapidated and old, but it’s also a death trap that poses danger anytime soon if the authorities do not treat the matter with urgency.
Inside the classrooms, there are no benches and the whole school compound is covered with grass.
Abdul Bali Kamara, the headteacher, said, that because of the ongoing rift between the community and the Benevolent Mission that has been at the helm of affairs of the school for decades has prevented the kids from accessing the new school building.
And because of this, Kamara said, he was advised by the Inspector of the School in the area to use the old building. The school has been using the old for decades but the school has been in bad form.
An ongoing family fracas in Kumrabai town has hindered the progress of education in the community. The family is divided into two – some members insist that the Benevolent Mission be changed and replaced by a Community school, while the other party within the family supports the Benevolent mission to continue.
Parents in the community have complained that the division caused by this split between the Kamara family of Kumrabai has affected learning and teaching since schools.
Even Kamara, the headteacher, confirmed to this medium that though they have been going to school, no learning and teaching has taken place since schools reopened.
The new school was built by NACSA for the community but the kids can not access the building because of the ongoing family dispute.
But the ministry said NACSA hasn’t handed over the school to the community because there are still furnitures to be handed over.
But the question been asked by many is the seriousness of the education office in Tonkolili District to adress the impasse in the interest of the kids?
The Inspector of school has said the ministry is going to have a meeting with stakeholders to address the issue.
The suggestions of other people in the community is that, the ministry would have used it discretion for the kids to use the new building for the time being while NACSA is preparing for the official handing over ceremony.
But instead, the new school is locked up and exposed the kids to danger.
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