Teachers of the Zorkor-Kankoo Junior High School have lamented over the stress that they have to go through in other to teach in a school that has all three classes housed in a church facility.
When betterghanadigest.com paid a visit to the school on Thursday 2nd February 2023, the Assistant Headteacher, Mr. Ateele Jacob stated that the difficulty in teaching is immeasurable.
“All that we do here is management, nothing is separating the classes from one another especially forms 1 and 2, one class is facing the Altar while the other faces the opposite side but form three is inside the sacristy.”
He went on to say that “whenever teachers are teaching, their voices interrupt one another, students in form 1 are always hearing what the one teaching the form 2 is saying and the reverse is true. This usually distracts the concentration of the students”
On his part, Mr. Apita Mathias stated that most of the students always complain that they are finding it difficult to hear what they are teaching them due to the interruptions coming from the other classes.
“For me, they always complain that they cannot hear but when you also raise your voice, it will affect the other class as well so the experience is very bad but there is nothing they can do about it.”
One of the teachers Mr. Gilbert Adiazuure added that the school has made several appeals to the District Assembly to at least get a three-unit classrooms block for the students but all appeals yielded no fruits.
“Our home seems to be crumbling, we have requested the Assembly to give us just a single block but their response has always been that there are no funds.”
He went on to say that “Students are not comfortable sitting in the class, we don’t even have enough dual desks for the students to sit comfortably and learn, the floor of the church is not even tared so the dust alone poses serious threats to us and the students.”
Crowning the conversation, Mr. Akansake Joseph added most of their students have left the school, most of the remaining ones usually leave campus before closing time because of the unfriendly nature of the school, whenever the church is having a funeral or daytime program, the school will have to close down and make way for them”
These and several lamentations were aired by the teachers, our observation also discovered that the teachers had a single table with five chairs that they use to sit under a nim tree close to the church. The nim tree serves as a staff common room where they rest, Mark assignments and attend to other school issues.
Meanwhile, the teachers also disclosed that most teachers have refused to teach in the school when they were posted, and some who have reported also left along the line because they could not cope with the environment.
The Kankoo Junior High School was established in the year 2019 in a bid to ease the difficulty that students go through to travel to Kanga Junior High School.
Aside from the distance being far, there is a river between Kanga and Kankoo which students would have to cross to get access to the Kanga Junior High School. To end this struggle, the community together with the Authorities of the school discussed with the church owners to allow them to use the church as a school in the meantime with the hope that the assembly would provide a facility for them, but three years down the line, the church facility remains the only means through which education can be provided.
All efforts to get the assemblyman to speak on the issues proved futile since his number hadn’t been functional since the day of our visit but the teachers stated that he has paid visits to the school.
The teachers, community, and students are calling on the government, civil society organizations, NGOs, and all benevolent individuals to pity the future of the innocent children and come to their aid
All 3 JHS classes are housed in a church facility facing opposite directions to learn.
Teachers of the Zorkor-Kankoo Junior High School have lamented over the stress that they have to go through in other to teach in a school that has all three classes housed in a church facility.
When betterghanadigest.com paid a visit to the school on Thursday 2nd February 2023, the Assistant Headteacher, Mr. Ateele Jacob stated that the difficulty in teaching is immeasurable.
“All that we do here is management, nothing is separating the classes from one another especially forms 1 and 2, one class is facing the Altar while the other faces the opposite side but form three is inside the sacristy.”
He went on to say that “whenever teachers are teaching, their voices interrupt one another, students in form 1 are always hearing what the one teaching the form 2 is saying and the reverse is true. This usually distracts the concentration of the students”
On his part, Mr. Apita Mathias stated that most of the students always complain that they are finding it difficult to hear what they are teaching them due to the interruptions coming from the other classes.
“For me, they always complain that they cannot hear but when you also raise your voice, it will affect the other class as well so the experience is very bad but there is nothing they can do about it.”
One of the teachers Mr. Gilbert Adiazuure added that the school has made several appeals to the District Assembly to at least get a three-unit classrooms block for the students but all appeals yielded no fruits.
“Our home seems to be crumbling, we have requested the Assembly to give us just a single block but their response has always been that there are no funds.”
He went on to say that “Students are not comfortable sitting in the class, we don’t even have enough dual desks for the students to sit comfortably and learn, the floor of the church is not even tared so the dust alone poses serious threats to us and the students.”
Crowning the conversation, Mr. Akansake Joseph added most of their students have left the school, most of the remaining ones usually leave campus before closing time because of the unfriendly nature of the school, whenever the church is having a funeral or daytime program, the school will have to close down and make way for them”
These and several lamentations were aired by the teachers, our observation also discovered that the teachers had a single table with five chairs that they use to sit under a nim tree close to the church. The nim tree serves as a staff common room where they rest, Mark assignments and attend to other school issues.
Meanwhile, the teachers also disclosed that most teachers have refused to teach in the school when they were posted, and some who have reported also left along the line because they could not cope with the environment.
The Kankoo Junior High School was established in the year 2019 in a bid to ease the difficulty that students go through to travel to Kanga Junior High School.
Aside from the distance being far, there is a river between Kanga and Kankoo which students would have to cross to get access to the Kanga Junior High School. To end this struggle, the community together with the Authorities of the school discussed with the church owners to allow them to use the church as a school in the meantime with the hope that the assembly would provide a facility for them, but three years down the line, the church facility remains the only means through which education can be provided.
All efforts to get the assemblyman to speak on the issues proved futile since his number hadn’t been functional since the day of our visit but the teachers stated that he has paid visits to the school.
The teachers, community, and students are calling on the government, civil society organizations, NGOs, and all benevolent individuals to pity the future of the innocent children and come to their aid
