Wa SHTS students call for a break over fire outbreaks

Students of the Wa Senior High Technical School (Wa SHTS) are agitating to be allowed to go home following three consecutive fire incidents.

The incidents were recorded at the school in a week. Some of the affected students complained that all their personal belongings had been destroyed by the fire.

They told Ghana News Agency (GNA) that their monies for upkeep had also been consumed by the fire leaving them stranded.

The students expressing their grievances and worries said “it is better we die in front of our parents than to die here and our corpses will not be found.”

One student lamented bitterly “now all our things are burnt, we don’t even have toothpaste. I want to go, I don’t want the school again, it is not a force. If I go and sleep outside, I will go and sleep outside than be consumed by fire.”

“The classroom we are sleeping in is burning again,” another distressed student cried.

The agitation of the students began on Sunday evening, January 22, 2023, when the first fire incident occurred at about 20:20 burning one-storey building hostel accommodation of female students and displacing about 114 students.

The affected students were subsequently moved into a temporal hostel facility but that was also guttered by fire on Monday night January 23 at about 8:19 pm, barely 24 hours after the first incident occurred.

The school authority again settled the students in a classroom block and the Assembly Hall while steps were taken to stabilise them for academic activities to return to normal.

However, the classroom block that housed the displaced students was also guttered by fire on Thursday night, January 26, 2023.

According to Ghana News Agency (GNA) source at the school, four students and a National Service Personnel collapsed upon the mention of “fire” on Thursday night and were rushed to the Upper West Regional and Wa Municipal Hospitals.

The National Service Person has since been discharged while the four students are still receiving treatment at the hospital.

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The source at the school who pleaded anonymity indicated that the Upper West Regional Director of Education, Mr Razak Abdul-Korah, had directed the school authorities to buy some necessities including toothpaste and toothbrushes, and panties for the students to enable them stay on campus.

The source also indicated that some benevolent individuals and institutions had donated some items including books to the affected students.

Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service said investigations into the cause of the fire are still ongoing but the source at the school said they suspected an act of arson.

Meanwhile, the Upper West Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Justine Kpan, said he is yet to visit the school to ascertain the situation on the ground.