Following last Friday’s devastating fire outbreak that engulfed the girls' dormitory of the Karaga Senior High School, the Member of Parliament for the constituency, has pledged a comprehensive and swift response to the affected students and the school community.
The fire, which took hours to douse, destroyed the dormitory, leaving hundreds of students displaced with properties worth millions also lost. No student however died or got injured from the fire incident whose cause is yet to be established by authorities.
In response to this tragedy, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, on Sunday, August 24, visited the school where he interacted with authorities and students.
He extended his heartfelt sympathies to the affected students and the staff before expressing his deep concern and commitment to ensuring that the affected students receive the assistance they need during this challenging time.
"I want to assure the students and staff that we will respond and we will respond soon,” the Minister of state in-charge of finance assured.
The girls’ dormitory houses 600 students and with the disaster rendering it inhabitable, the school is now faced with the challenge of coming up with a temporary facility to accommodate the students.
Headmaster, Ismaila Abdul Nasir, said the school authorities have converted a six classroom block in the school to house the girls but called for action as the school is on recess and any delay would leave more students without accommodation when the school resumes.
In response, the MP pledged to report to the Minister of Education when he goes back to Accra but promised that while they await any intervention from the Education Ministry, he was going to mobilise his own resources to start the restoration of the girls’ hostel.
He affirmed his commitment to engaging with government agencies and local partners to ensure that the necessary resources are allocated to rebuild and enhance the school's facilities.
The fire outbreak affected considerably the final year students who are on campus as they are writing their WASSCE exams. As a means of cushioning them, the MP said he was going to offer them refreshment everyday as they write their exams.
He also pledged to donate 1,700 mathematical sets to cover the entire student population and to demonstrate the commitment to his pledge, the minister donated Ghc 10,000 cedis to authorities to be used to cover refreshment expenses on the first day of the WASSCE.
By: Zakaria Baba Kumbungdoo