Residents and parents of pupils of Methodist Primary School, Agada, in the Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State have expressed concern over the poor condition of the school.
They lamented that flood had taken over the school, which is the only primary school in the community.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the school, which was founded in 1929, had never been renovated, except for some interventions by the alumni association.
The buildings are old and decrepit, with the classrooms leaking.
Our correspondent learnt that there were not enough teachers in the school, and chairs were not sufficient for the pupils.
A teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said many teachers rejected postings to the school because of its condition and the distance of the community to the town.
She said, “I accepted the posting to this community because this is my home. Many teachers don’t want to come here because it is far.
“When it is about to rain, we always ask the pupils to go home because of the leaking roof. There is nowhere you can hide when it rains here.
“Flood disturbs us and nothing has been done by the government to renovate this school. It has remained like this since it was established.”
A mother of three, Ajoke Shonde, said all her children attended the school.
Shonde lamented that the condition of the school had posed a high risk for the pupils and the teachers.
She hinted that teachers in the school were not up to 10, urging the government to renovate the school and the community road.
She said, “Rain disturbs us here, so, when teachers see that rain is falling, they just ask our children to go back home.
“There is no way they can teach our children when it is raining here because everywhere is leaking. The best thing to do is to send them home.
“I want to appeal to the government to help us intervene and do something about it. We really need their intervention in this community.”
The Chairman of the Agada Community Development Association, Nurudeen Laoye, said the community was neglected because it was located in a border town.
He added that the community also lacked access to good health care facilities and proper education.
Laoye said, “This is the only government primary school in our community; for you to get to another school, you will need to trek a long distance of about three hours.
“Many of the teachers don’t want to stay here because this place is not developed and it is also far from Idi-Iroko.”
When contacted, the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Professor Abayomi Arigbadu, said he was not aware there was a dilapidated school in the council.
He said, “I am not aware of this. Such reports have not got to my table. If it had, I am sure to attend to it. Officials and residents of these communities should not get tired to ensure that what is meant to be done is done. They should put in more efforts.
“There is another round of intervention and we will check out for the school on the list. I will send officials to go and check out such schools in that community.”
