Anafobisi Primary A School in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region is recording increased absenteeism among learners after a windstorm destroyed a 3-unit classroom block that previously housed many learners.
According to the Headteacher, Felicia Anamobire Anii, this has resulted in increased absenteeism amongst the learners, as some feel discouraged given the conditions under which they are compelled to sit for academic activities.
On March 10, 2025, a heavy windstorm hit many parts of the Upper East Region. In Bongo, it wreaked havoc, destroying structures including classrooms at the Anafobisi Primary A School, a school that was already battling an infrastructural deficit.
This has compelled the school authorities to move some of the learners to sit under a poorly constructed pavilion, and others under a baobab tree with the Upper Primary now occupying a church.
The relocation left the students without writing boards with the teachers virtually doing verbal teaching and occasionally allowing the children to take turns to write on the board instead of practicing with their books.
Speaking to Dreamz News, the Headteacher Madam Anii explained that some of the learners frequently absent themselves from coming to school, citing the destruction that has left them exposed to the harsh rays of the sun.
She appealed for an urgent intervention to address the challenges.
“It is true that some of them are not coming to school. I met some on my way to school and a fellow teacher from another school said she encountered our learners and they said their school had been destroyed so they no longer go to school. So, most of them don’t come to school. It is only a few of them that come because when they come, they sit under the tree, and by noon, they can’t sit again due to the heat. So, we need urgent help.” She appealed.
The Assembly Member of the Anafobisi Electoral Area, Hannah Asanyuure Talata equally decried the dire situation as she joined calls for immediate support.
She described the destruction done to the school as a serious drawback.
“The Minister was here, the MP was here, the assembly was here, GES was here but we have still not heard anything. Because of that many of the learners are not coming to school and this is drawing us back. I think there is a need for us to get attention urgently.”
