For more than a decade, the walls of an unfinished three-storey classroom block at La Presec have stood as a painful reminder of a promise yet to be fulfilled.
The concrete structure was expected to provide much-needed classroom space for the school.
Fifteen years later, it remains unfinished.
Sections of the structure have become weathered and stained, while the abandoned project stands as the school continues to grapple with a shortage of classroom space.
Inside La Presec, the situation is even more troubling.
The school has a population of more than 1,500 students, yet the infrastructure available to support teaching and learning falls far short of what such a population requires.
A visit by Adom News revealed a school struggling with inadequate classrooms, limited administrative space, an absent assembly hall and an ICT laboratory that, despite its name, has no computers available for learners to use.
This is not simply a story about an unfinished building.
It is a story about children growing up in an environment where the facilities meant to prepare them for the future are either inadequate, unavailable, or deteriorating.
A computer lab with computers
Perhaps nowhere is the infrastructure challenge more evident than in La Presec’s ICT laboratory. The room exists, but the computers do not.
Instead, students are confronted with broken and worn-out furniture, damaged chairs and desks, and walls showing signs of deterioration.
For children being taught in an era where digital literacy is increasingly important, the absence of computers presents an obvious challenge.
The question confronting the school is painfully simple: How does a child learn practical ICT skills without access to a computer?
The problem goes beyond the classroom.
Digital skills are increasingly woven into education, employment and everyday life. Yet pupils at La Presec risk moving through basic education without the practical exposure their counterparts elsewhere may receive.
For a school serving more than 1,500 children, this should demand urgent attention.
FIFTEEN YEARS AND COUNTING
Then there is the unfinished GETFund project.
The three-storey classroom block has reportedly been under construction for about 15 years.
For 15 years, students have continued to attend school while the structure that could have provided additional classroom space remains incomplete.
Every year that passes represents another cohort of children who have gone through the school without benefiting from the facility.
The abandoned structure now tells its own story.
For the school community, the frustration is understandable.
A classroom block designed to ease congestion is standing on school grounds, yet remains unavailable for its intended purpose.
The cost is not only financial. It is measured in the learning environment of thousands of children who have passed through La Presec during the years the project has remained incomplete.
WHEN A CLASSROOM BECOMES A BURDEN
La Presec is also grappling with another damaged classroom block that has remained unattended for a prolonged period.
What was once part of the school’s infrastructure is now in a state of disrepair.
Its deterioration has further reduced the space available to the school and compounded the pressure on existing facilities.
With more than 1,500 pupils to accommodate, every usable classroom matters.
Every abandoned classroom is therefore not simply a building problem. It becomes an education problem.
WHERE IS THE ADMINISTRATION?
The challenges extend beyond classrooms. La Presec also lacks a proper administrative facility to adequately accommodate its leadership and teaching staff.
Teachers and school authorities need appropriate spaces to plan lessons, keep records, meet parents, and carry out the administrative work necessary to run a school effectively.
Without adequate administrative infrastructure, the pressure is felt not only by students but also by the people responsible for their education.
A SCHOOL WITHOUT AN ASSEMBLY HALL
Another major gap is the absence of an assembly hall.
For a school of this size, a central space for assemblies, school programmes, examinations and other activities would provide an important facility for both pupils and staff.
Instead, La Presec must manage without one. The result is a school community trying to do more with less.
THE CHILDREN BEHIND THE NUMBERS
It is easy to describe this as an infrastructure deficit. But behind the numbers are children.
There is the child sitting in an overcrowded classroom.
The student learning ICT without a computer.
The teacher trying to deliver lessons despite inadequate facilities, and the school administrator working without a proper office.
And the young student walking past an unfinished three-storey building every school day, knowing that the classrooms inside could make a difference to their education.
These are not statistics.
They are Ghanaian children whose education today will shape the country they inherit tomorrow.
A QUESTION FOR EDUCATION AUTHORITIES
The situation at La Presec raises important questions for the authorities responsible for basic education infrastructure.
What is the current status of the 15-year-old GETFund project? Why has the project remained unfinished for so long? What funding is required to complete it?
Has a technical assessment been conducted to determine whether the existing structure remains safe and suitable for completion?
And, most importantly, when will the students of La Presec finally benefit from the classrooms they have been waiting for?
These are questions that deserve clear answers from the relevant authorities.
The Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, GETFund and the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly have a responsibility to ensure that the infrastructure needs of public schools receive the attention they require.
THIS IS AN APPEAL, NOT A POLITICAL SCORECARD
The condition of La Presec should not become a partisan argument. It should become a national education conversation.
Governments change. Ministers change. Directors change. But the children remain.
A student entering La Presec today cannot be asked to wait another 15 years for an unfinished classroom block to be completed.
The school needs a coordinated intervention. That intervention should begin with a proper assessment of the existing infrastructure, the status of the abandoned GETFund project, and the immediate classroom needs of the school.
WHAT LA PRESEC NEEDS
The school community needs:
• Urgent assessment and completion of the 15-year-old GETFund classroom block, subject to the necessary structural and technical checks.
• Additional classrooms to ease pressure on existing facilities.
• A functional ICT laboratory, equipped with computers, appropriate furniture and other necessary learning resources.
• A proper administrative block for school management and teachers.
• An assembly hall or suitable multipurpose facility for school-wide activities.
• Rehabilitation of damaged and abandoned structures within the school.
• A clear, publicly communicated timeline from the relevant authorities on the proposed interventions.
Corporate Ghana, development organisations, old students, churches and other stakeholders can also play a role in supporting the school with equipment and infrastructure.
But charitable support should complement, not replace, the responsibility of the state to provide safe and adequate public education infrastructure.
THE EDUCATION MINISTER AND GES DIRECTOR-GENERAL MUST SEE THIS
La Presec is not asking for luxury.
It is asking for the basics, a safe classroom, a functional computer, a place for teachers to work, a space where more than 1,500 children can learn with dignity, and a 15-year-old public project that has remained unfinished for far too long.
The abandoned building at La Presec should not simply be another structure that people drive past every day.
It should be a call to action. To the Minister of Education: come and see.
To the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service: come and see.
To GETFund and the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly: come and see.
Walk through the classrooms.
See the ICT laboratory. Look at the unfinished building. Listen to the teachers.
Listen to the learners.
Then ask one question:
Is this the learning environment Ghana wants for its children? The children of La Presec cannot wait indefinitely.
Fifteen years is already too long. Their education is happening now. Their future is happening now. And the time to act is now.
