10 months after The Guardian report, Cheshire School still in dire straits
TEN months after The Guardian report on the deplorable condition and neglect of Cheshire High School, Polytechnic Road, Ijokodo, Ibadan, the state government has failed to commence work on the facility.
When the school was established in 1980, it was one of the best and equipped with state- of- theart teaching facilities, but has since lost its glory, with dilapidated classrooms and infrastructure, while reptiles have taken over the school premises.
In its heyday, Cheshire High School was a leading light, not only in Oyo State, but in the entire southwest.
With state- of- the- art teaching facilities, recreational ambience and teaching and non- teaching staff, Cheshire, as it is called, was parents’ first choice.
But today, the contrary is the case, it is no longer in a prime position in the galaxy of schools.
Apart from the parlous state of its facilities, classrooms with leaking roofs, and an ill- equipped library, the expansive school premises is overgrown with weeds and has become a playground for reptiles.
Investigation showed that both the school management and the old students have written to the government appealing for its intervention, which was allegedly rebuffed.
The Guardian first visited the school in May 2023, and spoke with the then Commissioner for Education, Abdulrahman Abdulraheem, who assured of the government’s
intervention.
But when the reporter returned to the school months after the report, the state government had yet to make good on its promise.
In a chat with The Guardian on the development, President of the Cheshire Alumni Association, Ridwan Kareem, lamented that the government has failed to complement their efforts in restoring the school’s lost glory.
Already, Kareem disclosed that there has been a significant drop in the number of students attending the school due to its deplorable state, occasioned by long years of neglect.
“Our school is going into extinction gradually; the only visible projects in the school are the ones done by old students. We renovated some classrooms and also built a modern toilet when we discovered that teachers and pupils were defecating in the open. Unfortunately, the entire premises is overgrown with weeds and no meaningful learning can take place.
“We embarked on some projects to rebrand and change the outlook of the school. We know that children deserve the same opportunity, but the school deserves better. It deserves good classrooms, quality teachers and a principal who genuinely cares. “
Kareem corrected the impression that the school is meant for the physically challenged and enjoined the government to correct this narrative through the quality of personnel deployed.
When The Guardian reached out to the education commissioner, Prof. Salihu Adelabu, he said after providing the needed infrastructure, the government should not be held responsible for maintenance.
“We have over 600 secondary and 2,000 primary schools we oversee and there are tertiary institutions too. So, maintenance should be the principal’s business, not the government’s. “Government cannot be thinking of infrastructural gap, capacity building and maintenance of the facilities, education should be everybody’s business,” Adelabu stated.