Guardian

SEVERAL decades after its establishment in 1952, St John’s is still the only primary school in Yahe, a community of friendly farmers, fishermen and women, located within the Yala Local Council in Cross River state.

Despite various promises of reforms by past governments and even the current one in the state, children in the rural community who attend the only available primary school still lack basic amenities necessary for conducive learning.  Several appeals by parents to the Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) for help have so far remained unanswered. Hope for a restoration of basic infrastructure in the school has remained very dim.

Apparently displeased with the school’s high level of decay, many hapless parents, whose main occupation rotate between farming and fishing and who can barely afford to feed their children due to the destruction of their farmlands by the recent flooding, have now resorted to sending their children to the only private school in the community, being managed by a catholic church.

When The Guardian visited the school, which shares the same premises with the community’s only public secondary school, the Oeyi Onwu Secondary Grammar School recently, it was in a deplorable condition. The weather beaten classroom blocks had several cracks on all sides, with no windows, dilapidated boards and broken floors.

Mr. Simon Aduma, who attended St John’s in the 50s, told The Guardian that the school, in its present state, was totally opposite what it used to be when he was a pupil there. “That school had brought so much joy to this community in those days when it was established,” he recalled.  But what has continued to baffle Aduma is the alleged neglect of Yahe in the scheme of things.

According to him, while the neighbouring communities have continued to benefit from successive state governments because of what he described as “their connection with the State House,” he regretted the that politics had largely been responsible for the decay in the school.

He wondered how neighbouring communities, such as Nfom, Okpoma, Ugaga, Ijiraga and Nfuma could all have their schools renovated, while only Yahe was left out. He said: “Initially, we thought the intervention was being done in stages. But before we knew it, they just bypassed us and moved the next community. The education of children should not be politicized by “man knows man.”  The priority of the state government should be the future of these children and what can be done to give them the best of education”.

Mr. Edra Linus, who taught in the school for 15 years before moving to another school, said he was at a loss on why St John’s had remained continually neglected by successive administrations.

His words: “It got to a point when we took the clan head to officially complain to the Commissioner for Education and he promised that all schools along the road would be given a facelift. But to our dismay, this is his second term in office and our school is right on the road, yet, it has never benefitted from any intervention by the state government.”

He added: “the neglect is not peculiar to the primary school alone. Even the Oeyi Onwu secondary school looks like a primary school. The structures are in such a pitiable state and we are at a loss on where and who to turn to.”

Linus recalled that ever since the Catholic mission established the school, before it was taken over by the state government, it only benefitted during the military regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, when one classroom block was built.

Since then, he disclosed, there had been no renovation or otherwise by successive administrations. “Whatever the school got was long before the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) dispensation,” he asserted. “It’s like the Yahe community is being punished. The state government is supplying equipment to other schools, building libraries and renovating structures, but for Yahe, it’s like we have been completely neglected. This is a poor community and we need education to get out of poverty. We are appealing to the federal government and the government of Mr. Liyel Imoke to come to our aid and help our children by coming to the aid of our schools”.

Another teacher and an indigene of the community, Mr. Cyril Adoga, said the only reason why children still come to the school “is because there is no other option available to them.”

He said: “As teachers, we are making sacrifices for the benefit of the children. We are subjected to teaching under very poor conditions that have affected productivity. How can you expect much when people are unhappy? This is not a private school where we can make demands. This is a government owned school and government is so very far from us.”

On the effect on the pupils, he said the children are not happy but only come to school to benefit from what the teachers have to offer. “They are just here to gain from the knowledge the teacher has to offer. I am sure if they have other options, they won’t be here.”

Adoga further lamented that during rainy seasons, children are forced to move from one location to another to avoid leaking roofs. He explained: “In some cases, the children would have to come early to school to scoop water out of their classrooms, or they are made to confine themselves to a particular area of the class that is not leaking. Subjecting children to this kind of treatment in this century is a shame.”

But another indigene, Mr. Oko Ogar, who also expressed regret over the neglect, believes that intervention would eventually get to the community. “From what I gather, the intervention is being done in stages and it would be very sad if the government does not intensify its effort because children in both the primary and secondary schools are learning under very harsh condition.

He said: “Each time, I see the condition of the school, I feel very bad. The building is completely deteriorated and I want to suggest that if the government is not forthcoming, the community can come together and do something no matter how little.”

Also speaking, Mrs. Immaculate Onah whose children attend the school, alleged that the few prominent indigenes that would have assisted the community “are only concerned about the welfare of the community during election periods.”

Her words: “The Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Ms. Rose Oko is from this area. We have other prominent sons and daughters in government and I wonder what they will tell their children when they cannot assist their community in providing basic education.”

When The Guardian approached the Cross River SUBEB chairman, Mr. Joseph Ebam over the school’s condition at the BRACED states’ summit on education, held in Port Harcourt last November, he assured that it would eventually be renovated. He also stated that the state government was dealing with the huge problems in its education sector in stages, promising that every community in the state would eventually benefit.

Cross River has a total of 1,018 primary schools about 273, 129 children to cater for.