About 217 girls of Wa Islamic Senior High School in the Upper West Region have been displaced after fire razed down a dormitory block on Friday.
Some of the affected students have been asked to go home in order to return the following week while others – most of whom stay far – have also been relocated temporarily to sleep in a classroom block.
The fire destroyed several items including beds and mattresses, school uniforms, bags, note books and text books, all running into thousands of Ghana cedis.
The students only managed to salvage some items, most of which were at the other part of the building where the fire did not spread to.
Fire officers were also swift in preventing the fire from spreading to the entire girls’ dormitory.
The Upper West Region Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Saalih, together with his deputy, Hamidu Ishahaku Chinnia, and the Wa Municipal Chief Executive, Alhaji Ishahaka Tahiru Moomen, visited the school to sympathise with the students and have first-hand information about the incident.
Narrating the incident to journalists, Headmaster of the Wa Islamic Senior High School Alhasan A Bafara lamented about the incident.
He said they have since taken a temporary measure to ensure academic work progresses despite the devastation.
Meanwhile, regional minister Dr Hafiz Bin Salih interacting with the media also lamented the extent of damage and has since directed the headmaster to officially report to the Ministry of Education through the Regional Coordinating Council for action.
He also called on the Ghana National Fire Service to intensify its sensitisation especially during the Harmattan period.
Recounting the incident, Girls’ Prefect of the school Alhasan Faiza told journalists that the students were at the hall to conduct a morning roll call when the fire started.
She lamented the incident will have a debilitating effect on the affected students, particularly final year students, if measures are not put in place to support them.
By Yakubu Abdul-Gafur|3news.com|Ghana