Parents lament lack of desks, blackboards at JSS Sabo
Parents of students of the newly established Government Junior Secondary School (JSS) at Sabo in Kuje Area Council of the FCT have expressed concern over lack of desks, chairs and blackboards in the school.
The Chairman of the Parent/Teacher Association (PTA) of the school, Alhaji Saidu Bala Sabo, who spoke with Aso Chronicle on Saturday, said the school was established in November 11, 2011, but that up till now it lacked desks, chairs and blackboards for the students to learn and study effectively.
He said because of the eagerness and zeal parents of the community and neighbouring villages for their children to go to school, they had mobilised funds and engaged carpenters to provide desks and chairs for the school.
He further said the executives of the PTA also had to source for some desks and chairs from a primary school in the community to enable students sit on them to attend classes.
“For example, we have 78 students in JSS 1 alone, and they have only 42 desks and chairs, which is not enough for them, as they have to scramble for space to sit and receive lessons.
“And that of JSS II, there are 43 students, while the desks and chairs in that class are not more than 27. The five plastic chairs are the ones from the Universal Basic Education Board, which some students who don’t have places to sit on attach themselves with tables to write,” he said.
He also said the school was yet to be provided with a white board, saying parents had to mobilise bricklayers to make a cement blackboard in order to enable students attend classes.
He further complained that the contractor that handled the school failed to fix electric fittings in the entire school buildings after connecting electric wires.
“The only thing the contractor did was the running of cables across the entire school buildings, while electric fittings are yet to be fixed in spite of the fact that he made provision for them; such as ceiling fans, bulbs and even locks. We have locked up all the classrooms, ‘’ he said.
He added that the contractor had also abandoned the soak away without covering, which he said posed a danger to the lives of students.
Therefore, he appealed to the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) to come to the aid of the school.
In a related development, parents of students of the Local Education Authority Primary School at Gawu in Kuje Area Council have also expressed concern over insufficient desks and chairs in the school.
Spokesperson of the community, Israel Bitrus, who spoke with Aso Chronicle, said the number of desks and chairs in the school were not enough to accommodate the pupils and that some pupils, especially in primaries 1 and 2 sat on the floor to attend classes.
He said the school had only five teachers, including the headmaster, adding that the school also needed additional one block of classrooms in order to accommodate the pupils.
“In fact, even one of the existing classrooms leaks whenever it rains as some of the zinc have been blown off by windstorm, thereby exposing the pupils to environmental hazards,” he said.
Bitrus added that most of the ceilings had been pulled down, including windows.
Therefore, he appealed to the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) to intensify efforts in rehabilitating the entire block of classrooms and provide additional teachers.
When contacted, the Director of the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) in the FCT, Dr. Adamu Jatau Noma, said the newly established junior secondary school started since 2004 and that he inherited the problems.
However, he said the board had already directed officials of its works department to go and assess the level of work carried out by the contractor.
“And as I speak, we have already taken record of other things to be supplied to the school, while a contract for provision of furniture and other things have already been awarded,” he said.