By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Eastern regional office of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has cut off water supply to some Senior High Schools and technical and Vocational Schools over the schools’ indebtedness to the water distribution company.
The affected schools are Yilo Krobo SHS, Anum Presby SHS, Anum Presby Vocational Institute, Boso Senior High Technical and Akro Senior High Technical School.
According to sources, all five schools were disconnected in November 2023, during a nationwide disconnection exercise by GWCL.
Currently, the management, staff, and students of the affected schools are feeling the brunt of a disconnection exercise.
As schools resume in 2024, academic activities are said to be interrupted as students have to queue for long hours to get water from a single borehole, while others trek long distances in search of water.
Information available from the region has it that the situation is not only limited to the five schools in the Krobo and Anum enclaves but several schools in the region and beyond have also been affected by the disconnection exercise carried out by the water distribution company.
Heads and staff of the various schools in the region are tight-lipped about the situation due to fears of losing their jobs when they speak publicly.
Some students who spoke on condition of anonymity expressing their frustrations to journalists, said, “We have been experiencing water crisis since August 2023, we have been through a lot.
According to those who have mechanized boreholes, the pumping machine underground is spoilt, so they sometimes have to wake up at dawn to join this long queue to get water for themselves as well as to fetch water to the teachers’ bungalows.
“By the time we get to our classrooms, we are tired, and we can’t even concentrate, so we sleep in class. The time we have to learn, we use it to fetch water for the kitchen and the teachers. You can imagine the queue we will have to join when all the first-year students report.”
A student of Akro Senior High Technical School also bemoaned, “The water problem in our school is affecting us negatively. At times, even going to school is a problem, especially, the girls we suffer a lot during our menses if there’s a shortage of water. Sometimes we have to go to town to get water, and even that affects our academics and studies.”
The students appealed to the government to assist the schools by providing water for them.
“We are appealing to the government to get us two or more boreholes to address the situation.”
Meanwhile, the Eastern Regional Chairman of the Parents Association (PA), Mr. Joshua Tekpenor, expressed worry about the situation and called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ministry of Education to immediately intervene.
According to him, some students are using the water situation as an excuse to go to town and indulge themselves in all kinds of activities that are not permitted.
