Students of Ntensre D/A JHS located in the heart of Atwima Nwabiagya North District in the Ashanti Region are calling on the government to help improve their toilet facilities.
In an interview with Silver Fm News, the students said the school’s toilet facility is in a deplorable state, making its usage inconvenient.
Some students from the near by communities like Kapro, Pasro, Akwaboa, Sukwai and Ntensere shared their ordeals on how they attend to nature’s call during school hours.
“Normally, we have to go home to attend to nature’s call since you don’t want to waste time and miss the lesson by walking a long distance, we go somewhere else,” said one male student.
A young girl also said: “If I want to use the toilet I always go home. It takes me thirty minutes to go home. If I feel the urge to use the toilet and I can’t go home, I just manage.”
According to report, the entire school population depends on olden days toilet with just three holes without roofing and a weak wooden structure which makes it difficult for use.
“Sometimes you can come to the school toilet and see some guys looking at you through the old iron sheet used as a cover looking at our private parts,” one student lamented.
The students are exposed to a high risk of crossing the roads during school hours in order to use public toilets. Same can be said for those who opt to use the nearest bushes to ease themselves.
Speaking to a PTA member, Mr Nana Agyeman, he explained what has been done so far to address the situation.
“Somewhere last year around February, we got to know that the school is without toilet facilities. Actually there was some but they weren’t functioning very well so we the the parents contributed and raised some money put up one. We gave the contractor six months to complete.”
“In actual fact, he should have completed last month so that when the children reopen they will be able to use it but unfortunately the Assembly member for the area Hon Eric Dapaah demolished the entire toilet which was at the roofing stage with an excuse that, the facility is in the wrong place and promise to build another one for the school. But since the demolishing of the facility, we have not heard anything from the Assembly member,” he said.
The students have further appealed to authorities to come to their aid in building toilet facilities for the school.