Aboabo: 80-year-old school begs for facelift

Aboabo Methodist Basic School, a top-performing 80-year-old institution, in the Yilo Krobo Circuit, located near Nkurakan in the Eastern Region, is pleading for urgent support to address its critical infrastructure challenges.

For over 80 years, the school has served as a beacon of education for hundreds of students in the local community and its surrounding areas.

Recently, it emerged as the top-performing school in the Yilo Krobo Circuit, with outstanding results in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

Despite its rich history and academic achievements, the school is now facing dire infrastructure challenges and needs upgrades to provide a conducive learning environment.

Parents have expressed grave concern about the poor situation of the school, which is described as in total disrepair, with dilapidated classroom blocks, inadequate social amenities, and limited access to safe drinking water as well as torn and damaged roofing.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meeting, Mr Felix Kwapong, Chairman of the Association, stated that despite the dedicated efforts of school authorities – staff, and the PTA, financial constraints had hindered their ability to address the challenge.

He noted that the acute shortage of basic facilities posed significant obstacles for both students and teachers, hindering teaching and learning processes and compromising the overall educational experience.

“The situation has reached a critical point, and so we are urging local officials, non-profit organisations, and concerned citizens to step up and offer assistance,” he said.

Despite sending letters and numerous follow-ups to the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly, the Ghana Education Service office, and the office of the Member of Parliament for the area, Mr Albert Nyakotey, according to him, the school has yet to receive a response from any of them.

“The state of the classroom block continues to deteriorate, in addition to the terrible condition of our classroom blocks. We lack basic facilities such as a toilet, a urinal, and even access to clean drinking water,” Mr. Kwarpong said.

The PTA chairman announced that Aboabo Methodist Basic School emerged as the top-performing school in the Yilo Krobo Circuit, following their outstanding results in the Basic Education Certificate Examination.

“In 2020, we sent 74 candidates to take the BECE, and 69 of them passed. In 2021, we had a remarkable result, with 67 out of 68 students passing,” he said.

“The following year, in 2022, all 49 students who sat for the exam passed. And in 2023, our students continued to excel, with every single one of our 63 candidates also passing.”

He stated that the school administration was exerting great effort to provide for teaching and learning, but they were struggling to do so due to the significant infrastructure deficiencies that were hindering their efforts.

GNA