Teachers of Aburi Girls Senior High School (ABUGISS) are appealing to the government through the Ministry of Education to fast track the payment of the 10 percent balance of the contract sum to the contractor who constructed an 18-flat teachers’ bungalow in the school.
The project, which was first awarded in 2016 before the former president left office and was commenced in 2017, has been completed for close to 3 years now, but it is yet to be handed over by the contractor for use by teachers.
More than 21 teachers of the school currently reside outside the campus, with some moving from Koforidua and Accra to Aburi daily, spending more than 6,000 Ghana Cedis on rent annually, a situation they say is affecting their delivery.
A visit by Citi News to the facility saw the 2-bedroom 18-flat facility completed and fitted, but the structure has begun deteriorating with some visible cracks and the painting on two structures wearing off.
Some worried staff of the school, who spoke to Citi News on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimized, shared their frustrations and pleaded with the Minister of Education to immediately intervene.
“Teachers reside outside Aburi, some come from Accra, some come from Koforidua, and nearby places. In our school, our classes begin as early as 7 am. So if a teacher is given that, by the time the teacher gets here it becomes difficult. We have been missing periods because of that. Another issue is that we have over 2000 girls, that is only form ones and form threes, and we have few teachers living with them, but if we are able to finish this and teachers reside in it, we will have more teachers who will be on campus, and they will help mould the children as it is.”
“So we are pleading that we appreciate what the government has done so much, but it becomes not useful when we are not using it. So we are just pleading through the minister and other people that they should come to the aid of Aburi Girls to see to it that this teachers’ flat becomes useful to teachers, and then we will all be glad of building our girls,” a teacher stated.
Another teacher also appealed to the government to pay its debt so that the contractor can complete the work and hand it over to the school for academic activities to be enhanced.
Meanwhile, the headmistress of the school, when contacted, refused to make comments about the issue, indicating it is not in their domain.
The Assemblyman for Aburi West Electoral Area, Daniel Asiama, went on his knees and pleaded with the government to take immediate action to make the structure operational to lift the accommodation burden off the shoulders of the teachers.
“I thank the government for this nice project it has done for ABUGISS, but the contractor says the government owes some percentage. So I want to go on my knees and plead with the government to pay the remaining percentage so that the contractor can finish the project and hand it over to the school for the teachers to have a place to stay and teach the students well.”
“My worry is that the teachers keep coming to me for a place to stay. Some of the teachers come from Accra every day to teach the students. So the government should just step in and help out because one of the blocks has 18 rooms and that can accommodate lots of the teachers,” he stated.
Mr. Asiama highlighted that ABUGISS was one of the best schools in Ghana, so as such, the government should pay the contractor for the project to be completed.