Tano North District: Congestion in classrooms as 3,4 children use 1 dual desk
A visit to schools in the Tano North District of the Ahafo region revealed the disturbing situation of overcrowding in classrooms in the various basic schools.
This issue of overcrowding was particularly pronounced in Afrisipa M/A cluster of schools, SDA cluster of schools, Susuanso R/C, Yamfo Islamic Basic school and several others.
In some instances, three pupils shared a dual desk and in other extreme situations, four pupils shared a desk.
This means social distancing cannot be observed, a situation that places the school at a disadvantage should there be an introduction of the Novel Coronavirus in that environment.
In some instances, the situation could be handled by the addition of furniture which we found was inadequate in the various schools.
The situation is worrying now because of the surge in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many parents are beginning to question why schools are still in session in the wake of the rapid spread of the virus. Parents who spoke to rawgist.com are generally worried for their kids in school.
As at the time of filing this report, schools in the district had just taken delivery of face masks for onward delivery to pupils after about four weeks in school.
Although there is no case of COVID-19 infection within the district, the situation currently is potentially explosive.
The question lingering on many minds is whether or not the government is waiting for the virus to wreak havoc in schools before doing the needful.
