By Edmund Smith-Asante, SIRIGU
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| A classroom block at the Sirigu Senior High School |
The drilling of three boreholes in
the Sirigu Senior High School in the Upper East Region has brought a lot of
changes in the lives of the students, staff and the academic performance of the
school, Mr Thomas Awiah, the headmaster, has stated.
He said in 2006 the academic
performance soared to 90.6 per cent, as students no longer went in search of
water, had time to study and do whatever they wanted to do.
“In 2008, the academic performance
went to 98.9 per cent. In 2009, it fell to 93 per cent but we didn’t give up,”
he said.
In 2011, the academic performance
rose again to 96 per cent, inched higher to 97 per cent in 2012 “and in 2013 we
had 100 per cent and in the region we were placed fourth and 100 nationally,
out of 686 schools, as far as the WASSCE was concerned,” he stated.
In 2014 the school chalked up 99 per
cent in academic performance.
“This goes to tell us that the
introduction of water, and with the feeding system that came in, where
students no longer had to fend for themselves, has improved their academic
performance.”
Improvement in sanitation
Mr Awiah, who was speaking to a team
of journalists and staff of World Vision Ghana, an NGO, who were on a visit
recently, also said the water had contributed good sanitation because
hitherto, the students did not have water to even wash their clothes, let alone
for cleaning and inspection. The students now undergo regular inspection, clean
their gutters and have started rubbing shoulders with the big schools in terms
of sanitation.
The school has also been able to
engage in tree planting and is competing with others for national honours, due
to the availability of water all year round.
Mechanisation of borehole
 |
| The third borehole has been mechanised with solar power |
The headmaster said the desire of
the school to have its third high-yielding borehole mechanised was realised
this year at the beginning of the third term and since September “the school
now has 24-hour water operated with a solar system. World Vision has killed two
birds with one stone – they have solved our water problem and they have reduced
our financial burden of paying water bills to the Water Company,” he said.
Within the past few days the
students, teaching and kitchen staff have all been excited because water has
been connected to all places, he said, adding that a water system had also been
provided for the community to prevent members from encroaching on the school.
Skirmishes prevented
A teacher at the school, Mr Bismark
Azabire, told the visiting team that before the boreholes were constructed
there used to be skirmishes between the students and members of the community
as a result of competition for the little water available at the community’s boreholes.
“Because of the number of students
we have, when there was a queue at the borehole, it was almost impossible for
any community member to have access to the water; so, that was bringing
problems in our interactions with the community,” he stated.
Mr Azabire also said as a result of
the time used by the students to search for water, the school’s timetable could
not be followed, while meals could not be served on time at the dining hall.
A teacher in charge of special
education, Mr Adjai Seidu, added that the lack of water on campus then impacted
on the security of the students, especially the girls, who were sometimes
caught up in fights with community members over water.
He indicated that life on campus for
some visually impaired students who had to trek long distances for water and
compete with the sighted was a living hell because of the unavailability of
water.
According to a Form One Arts
student, Ms Emmanuela Atarezina, the plight of students with diseases such as
asthma was worsened because contrary to the doctor’s advice they had to carry
water from the community to the school every day.
From the beginning
The school was established in 2000
as a community day school at the Catholic Mission Social Centre with a student
population of 60 and three members of staff. It currently has a population of
1,120, of which 700 are females.
The District Assembly later provided
land for the school. “When the school moved here we didn’t have any source of
water and so students were suffering a lot and they had to go to the streams to
fetch water. As a day school, the students were fending for themselves so they
had to fetch water for themselves before for studies.”
World Vision came to drill a
borehole in the school and it served as a source of water. That borehole was
not high yielding so they came again to drill a second borehole, which is in
use. It brought some relief to the students and to the school.
The school started the boarding
system in February 2014 and when it became a boarding school a lot of pressure
was put on the borehole facility. Water was needed to cook for the students so
there came the need for more water.
So in collaboration with World
Vision they drilled a third borehole. “I must say that World Vision has been of
immense support to this school. They have taken us as a special school that
they have to help because I have been to many schools and I have not seen that
happening.”
Mr Awiah said the yield was such
that it could even serve the whole Sirigu community so he discussed with World Vision
on mechanising that borehole for the school.
Writer’s email: edmund.asante@graphic.com.gh
This
story was first published by the Daily
Graphic on October 5, 2015
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