Outbreak Looms At Sunyani Nursing And Midwifery Training College Over Poor Sanitation

The health training institutions are largely perceived as a sanctimonious place where men and women are taught the ways of cleanliness in order to become ambassadors of our health and safety in the communities.

However, the health and environmental situation at the Nursing and Midwifery Training College at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo, is a recipe for disaster.

The school’s water closet which serves both sexes has broken down with a pungent smell and stains of faecal matter due to heavy pressure. The bathroom is unhygienic and easy to contract infections. The surrounding of the school which blows uncompromising smell distracts lectures due to open urination.

The broken louver blades of the windows are left unreplaced for years allowing mosquitoes to invade the dormitories and classrooms. The walls of the classrooms and dormitories are tattered.

The filthy atmospheric condition of the school breeds mosquitoes making it unbearable for students to enjoy sound studies or sleep at night.

The entire picture of the situation represents a backward system which is compelling students to live in a culture of filth, a practical situation not conterminous with what the school teaches them.

The Nursing and Midwifery Training College which is timed for a potential outbreak of epidemic not too far, is a worst case of poor sanitation among our public schools deeply engulfed in filth and nauseating unhygienic condition.

Our reporter, who uncovered this ordeal, was told by the students on condition of anonymity that parents had thronged the school and complained about the dangers they (students) are exposed to but administrators of the school turned a blind eye.

The students, who were howling too many lamentations over the situation, told our reporter that if nothing is done urgently to avert the situation, the obvious may happen and students will suffer greatly.

Concerned Parent and Ward Chastised for Intervening

An intel picked by our reporter revealed that a concerned parent by name J. D. Assuming who went to the school to complained after receiving evidence of the unsanitary situation, had his mobile phone snatched by Hajia Aisha Inusah, the Assistant Principal of the Training College.

The victim after being handed his mobile phone realized the phone had been formatted to flush out any image or information with the intention of preventing their ox from being gored by the state authorities.

“The concerned parent chance upon the bad sanitation at the College when his ward complained that his mattress was bad and it was irking him so the parent came here to look at the mattress the ward was sleeping on and requested to use the washroom. That was when he witnessed the unhygienic conditions and decided to draw the attention of the school authorities only for him to incur the wrath of Hajia Inusah Aisha, Assistant Principal of the school,” a student hinted this reporter.

Aside that, the Assistant Principal visited mayhem on the son (name placed on ice) of Mr. Assuming who happens to be a student of the school by denying him access to classes and lectures for “conniving” with his father to expose them.

Mr. Assuming reported the matter to the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Command on 11^th May this year with his snatched phone taken as evidence. The case is being handled by the Regional Police PRO, Mr Augustine Kingsley Oppong.

The matter has also been reported to Member of Parliament (MP) for Kintampo North, Hon Derrick Oduro who also doubles as the Deputy Minister of Defence, but no remedial steps has since been taken to address the issue.

Checks by our reporter revealed that the phone which was taken from Mr. Assuming as police evidence is still with the police at the Sunyani Municipal police station.

The students who kept blaming the situation on the school authorities for paying no heed to their plights after several complaints, fear for their lives as they accused the health officials for looking on.

They are calling on the Minister of Health as well as Regional Health Directorate to as matter of urgency intervene by giving the school a facelift.