HOTCASS SHS Rotting Away

The Holy Trinity Cathedral Senior High School (HOTCASS) in the Greater Accra Region, is rotting away, with roofing of some of the classroom blocks either removed or fallen apart.

The situation is currently affecting both teaching and learning, as academic activities often come to a halt, anytime it rains.

The Anchor has gathered that the situation has even worsened with the coming in of this year’s rains, but authorities appear helpless.

Shockingly, the school which is located in the heart of the national capital, Accra, is forced to dismiss students anytime there is slighted idea of rainfall.

Of utmost important to the school built in October 1969 currently, is the fixing of destruction caused to some of its classrooms occupied by Form Three students. Although the school is challenged in many ways, issues of infrastructure especially classrooms, has been the most worrying.

A source lamented; “The school lacks infrastructure and furniture; those are the biggest and major problem”.

Though the classrooms appear inhabitable; due to the unavailability of infrastructure, students who just resumed from vacation, are made to study in the near-dilapidated environment, regardless; posing serious danger to both students and teachers.

Large portions of the rusty roofing sheets are often ripped off forcing rain water to flood classrooms the moment it rains.

According to a source who spoke to this paper on condition of anonymity, this has been the case since the rains started this year.

A video and pictures of the three classrooms sighted by The Anchor corroborate the concern expressed by the source.

But The Anchor was informed authorities have become helpless, hence, the decision to dismiss the students anytime it is about to rain.

Asking students to go home anytime it is about to rain the source said was not even the best; but because there are no options, this is what has become of the school.

He told this reporter, “If the clouds are heavy, they allow the students to go home and even that is risky because they can’t be in that particular room so the whole school is made to go home.

He said the situation deteriorated about “Three weeks ago when the rains rendered part of the building unusable and till now nothing has been done about it.

Two or three classrooms have been affected. Two of the three classrooms have their roofs partially [ripped] off”.

He continued “The school authorities are there but now because the school is for government, they are just there I don’t know if they are waiting for government. I don’t know they are not saying anything about it.

But the students are having classes there. The Form Three were on vacation but they came yesterday and they had to go there so they were there.

You know they were not around when I took the video so yesterday when they resumed, I learnt they were sent there. But yesterday, I wasn’t there, so I didn’t see the state of the rooms but there was water in one of the rooms”.

Holy Trinity SHS has a total population of a little over 1000 students. Even though the infrastructure challenges have lasted for years, this paper is informed the plight of both teachers and students, has worsened in this raining season

Source: anchorghana