80 pupils occupy dilapidated classroom as main building cracks

The buildings and classrooms in Alimosho Grammar School, Moshalasi, in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, are in a state of dereliction.

A visit to the school by PUNCH METRO on Wednesday revealed that the school has long been neglected.

Our correspondent observed that a two-storey building, which is the only modern one in the school, is under threat of imminent collapse and the school authorities have placed a red tape to mark it as a danger zone.

As a result, it was learnt that the SS2 and SS3 pupils, who occupied the two-storey building, had been relocated another one that had no roofs within the school premises.

Pupils were seen learning in the dilapidated buildings, said to be formerly occupied by SS1 pupils.

An SS3 pupil, who did not want his name in print, told our correspondent that nothing was working in the school.

He said when the classrooms became choked, some of the pupils were moved to nearby schools such as State High School, Moshalasi.

He added that the SS3 pupils, numbering more than 80 were in one class, while about 160 SS2 pupils occupied two classrooms in Alimosho Grammar School.

Another pupil, who identified himself simply as Ayomide, said because of the appalling state of the buildings and the congestion in the classrooms, most pupils no longer found learning interesting.

The pupil said, “Alimosho Grammar School is a hell of a place to learn. In this school, more than four buildings have no roofs. When rain falls, we are drenched and when sun shines, we are scorched. We learn under very excruciating condition.

“Now, we heard that each pupil will pay N1,000 each to renovate the buildings. Is it our responsibility to renovate the schools? After all, our parents pay a lot taxes every month to the government of Lagos State. I can see why a lot of parents struggle to put their children in private schools. There is much neglect in public schools. I hope the government will do something fast.

“The only structure (a two-storey building), which used to be the pride of the school is under threat of collapse as the walls have started falling from inside and the school authorities asked us to relocate. The school is seriously neglected. If you are told that this school is in Lagos, the country’s ‘Centre of Excellence,’ will you believe it?”

However, none of the school’s senior staff was willing to make official comment on the state of the school and the condition under which pupils are learning.

“We are civil servants and do not grant interviews to the press,” one of the female officials said.

However, one of the teachers described as unfortunate the condition of the classrooms.

“It has been like this for some years now. As you can see, our pupils are reluctant to come to school because of the bad state of their classrooms. We, as teachers, are helpless and we are waiting on the government to rescue the situation,” the teacher lamented.

He said that due to the deplorable condition of some of the classrooms, pupils had been evacuated from them and the school now faced the challenge of classroom shortages, overcrowded classrooms, which made teaching and learning a lot more taxing.

Another teacher, who also declined to give her name, lamented that they had for long been expecting the government to renovate the school.

She said although some government’s officials visited the school some months ago, they only took photographs of the buildings and nothing had been done since then.

Effort to get comment from the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Sarah Sosan, who also oversees the Ministry of Education in the state, was not successful as she did not pick her calls.

She did not also respond to our correspondent‘s text message as at the time the paper went to bed.

However, an Assistant Director of Information in the Deputy Governor‘s Office, Toro Oladapo, told our correspondent on the phone that rehabilitation of schools was ongoing across the state.

“Alimosho Grammar School is not the only one. I know she (deputy governor) has been meeting with parents and school authorities over the issue. She has been assuring them that government cannot rehabilitate all the schools at the same time. This, Sosan has said on several occasions,” Oladapo said.

Also, Chairman of the school’s Parents Forum, Mr. A. Akinpelu, could not be reached as his telephone was switched off when our correspondent called.

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