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03.08.2006 General News

NOBISCO On Verge Of Collapse?

03.08.2006 LISTEN
By Ghanaian Times

THE Headmaster of the Northern School of Business (NOBISCO), Seidu Salifu Satiaa Naa, has expressed worry about the poor state of the school's infrastructure and appealed to the government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to come to its aid.

He said the school's structures, were on the verge of collapse because they have not been rehabilitated since the school was taken over by government some 30 years ago.

NOBISCO was established in 1972 as a private school but was absorbed by Ghana Education Service in 1976.

Mr. Seidu said that if nothing urgent was done about the situation it could lead to disastrous consequences with the on set of the rains.

He said this when he inaugurated the school's Cadet Corps in Tamale on Saturday.

Describing the state of the school as a death trap, Mr. Seidu said it is time for the appropriate authorities to release funds to immediately renovate and build new structures than to wait for disaster to happen before action is taken", he said.

He stated that there was not a single bungalow for the teaching staff including himself, on the school's premises, a situation that was making it difficult for he and the staff to effectively supervise the students on campus to curb indiscipline.

Additionally, he said, the students were over crowded in the boys dormitories with four students sleeping on one bed.

He said that the school authorities recently converted the dinning hall into a male dormitory to replace one of the collapsed dormitories.

In the absence of a dining hall, the school was left with no option than to use one of the classrooms as a dining hall, he said adding that "the staff common room is now serving as a library."

During vacation, he said they had no alternative than to remove all electrical fittings and other appliances from the classrooms for safe keeping for fear of being stolen due to the poor state of the structures and lack of security in the school.

He expressed disappointment that numerous appeals made to the Ghana Education Service and other organizations had so far yielded no positive response.

The Deputy Regional Director of the GES, Richard Kudamo, confirmed to the Times yesterday that his office had received complaints from the headmaster about the problems of the school which had been forwarded to the national headquarters.

He said some time last year the Regional Directorate suggested to the headmaster to use part of the development levy paid by students to renovate some of the classrooms.

He further said that NOBISCO is not the only school facing such problems, saying that regional office had appealed for the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports and the GETFund to assist the school.

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