Is Christian Methodist SHS Under Threat?

Christian Methodist Senior High School (CHRIMESCO ) is one of the most celebrated Senior High Schools (SHS) in the Greater Accra Region.

The school which was established in 1965 and has a student population of about two thousand (2000) is threatened by a number of factors which the government must urgently pay attention to.

This is a school that has trained great people like the ace journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, the great and popular musician, Nat Brew (Amandzeba), just to mention a few.

The School was formally located at Adabraka near Kwame Nkrumah Circle in a private property with very limited space for many years.

Government therefore acquired a one hundred and ten (110) acre land for the school at the Block Factory on the Kasoa road here in Accra. Unfortunately, by the time the school moved to the new site, the land had been encroached upon, leaving only about five acres for the school.

When a team from Journalists In Development (JID) visited the school to do undercover checks, all sorts of buildings including private houses, schools, fitting shops, churches, mosques, containers, etc were discovered.

The team saw a thick bush which looked like a reserved forest right behind the school. The team initially thought the "forest" was reserved for recreation. But it was later on realised that the people around had turned that portion of land into a dumping site.

Accordingng to our sources, the bush is a breeding ground for snakes, and that obviously is a threat to students on campus. Criminals such as armed robbers and wee smokers also hide in the bush and terrorise people there at night. The school has no assembly hall as well as a football pitch. So then why is the school not making use of that portion of "forest" land which is rather breeding snakes and harbouring criminals.

Our checks also revealed that there is a road that runs through the school, and that is a real source of threat to students on campus as any of them could be knocked down by some reckless drivers who drive through the school. The fumes from the exhusts of these cars and the loud noise emanating from the engines of these cars are enough distraction to academic work on campus.

The school has no fence wall around it. And this greatly affects security and makes discipline a major problem to handle.

In addition, the team learnt that the only dormitory for the school which was built about seven years ago, and left at a 70% stage has since not been completed. The team learned that the contractor left site and has since not returned.

And for lack of a school dormitory, students who come from afar are compelled to rent apartments at nearby places. This development has often put the students, especially, student girls into situations of attacks and harassment from criminals according to our sources.

Unfortunately, the school's eighteen unit classroom block which was started years ago has also been abadoned. Although the classroom building has not been completed, the school is forced to use it for teaching due to increasing student population.

Again, it is sad to note that in this day and age where science and technology have become the driving force for development in every sphere of life, and where every well meaning secondary school has the facility, Christian Methodist Senior High School alone cannot boast of one such facility because the building which was put up for that purpose was also abandoned many years ago, and has now been turned into a den for criminals.

Finally, the school does not have a staff accommodation on campus and this also affects academic work of the school as staff travel long distances to school everyday.

Students who spoke to JID team but wanted to remain anonymous regretted that the government has neglected the school, and that it has not done enough to rescue the school from its present predicaments.

They however called on president Akuffo Addo to help safe the school by completing all the school's abandoned projects. They also asked the president to reclaim the school lands that have been encroached upon to enable the school to develop and enhance academic performance.

JID can recall that a statement was made by the President in connection with the reclaiming of the school lands from encroachers when he spoke to chiefs and elders at a durbar recently held in his honor at James Town here in Accra.