Inside Dilapidated School In Oil-rich Delta State Where Students Buy Roofing Sheets, Among Others Before Admission

Students of Gana Mixed Secondary School, located at Ton Sapele in the Sapele Local Government Area of oil-rich Delta State are required to provide roofing sheets among other things as a prerequisite for admission.
As part of the school's admission requirements, students are required to provide two corrugated roofing sheets, nails and two thousand naira (N2,000), SaharaReporters has learnt.


The now dilapidated Gana Mixed Secondary School, with about 400 students, was established in the early nineties to take care of children around Ugberikoko Road and Otonyasere Community.
Today, the school lacks a library, toilets, facilities for recreation and extracurricular activities, chairs and tables. It only has a few desks.


Speaking with our correspondent on the sorry state of the school, a parent who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, "The Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration has left us to our fate. This is unheard of, a public school owned by the government will ask students to provide roofing sheets before admission is given.


Though the requirement is not written that is what they tell you verbally. When my child came on admission that was what I paid for, corrugated roofing sheets and the sum of N2,000 were taken from me too by the school authority. There is no roof on the top of the building, so we don't blame them if they demand two roofing sheets because that's the level as a country we have degenerated to", the parent lamented.


On his part, a resident in the area told our SaharaReporters that when Gana Mix Secondary School was established, it became a joy to them, describing it as a welcome development."Gana Mix was a welcome development because the nearest school is Ufuoma Secondary school, which is a little bit far, so we were happy. They started with some buildings and since then the buildings have been collapsing and the government has done nothing about it.


The students and teachers defecate openly in a nearby bush around the school premises. The students only use six classrooms and they share it when it's time to teach. They teach each class a subject and then you go out and another group of students comes in."


It was gathered that two weeks ago, students of the school took to the area to protest against the lack of infrastructure.


They said they were tired of sitting on the floor, hanging on windows and sharing classes with hoodlums who come to the premises to smoke weed and even dare their teachers that nothing can be done to them.
One of the students took our correspondent around the dilapidated structures, some which had roofs that had caved in or were leaking.


According to the student, the school authority has written to everyone in the education ministry in Asaba, including the state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa and yet nobody has bothered to visit to see their plight.
He said the only people that came to see the school, warned the school authority not to speak to journalists or allow cameramen to enter the school premises.Efforts by our correspondent to speak with the school authority were rebuffed as staff members declined to comment on the issue.