No desks, No chairs: Abuja pupils sit on bare floor, teachers on windows for classes

Parents in Jijimgba, a community in Kuje Area Council of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are withdrawing their children from the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School due to a severe shortage of teachers and poor learning conditions.

During a visit to the school, parents expressed concerns over the dilapidated state of the classrooms, which were built 18 years ago through community efforts using mud blocks.

Despite the community’s attempts at maintenance, the classrooms have deteriorated, leaving pupils from primary 1 to 3 sitting on the bare floor while teachers are forced to sit on windows due to the lack of desks and chairs.

Chairman of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), Mr. Danjuma Enoch Bako, who took reporters around the building, confirmed that the school lacks essential furniture.

He noted that the overcrowding issue has worsened learning conditions, as pupils from primary 1 to 3 are now being merged with primary 4 students in a single classroom.

The situation becomes even more challenging during the rainy season, as flooding frequently disrupts lessons.

“The situation is worse during the rainy season because pupils in primary 1 to 3 are usually combined with those in primary 4 for lessons. Despite this, the classroom often floods whenever it rains,” Bako explained.

He further revealed that while pupils in primary 4, 5, and 6 manage to have lessons in the remaining classrooms, the roof of the primary 5 block has been blown off by strong winds, worsening the learning environment.

“Most of the classes have no desks and chairs for both pupils and teachers to sit, with teachers sitting on top of windows during lessons,” he added.

A class teacher at the school, Silas Alkali, who hails from the community, also spoke on the dire situation, stressing the shortage of teachers to handle core subjects.

He revealed that, despite a student population of over 161, there are not enough desks and chairs for both students and teachers.

“To make it worse, there are not enough teachers, and even the ones we have, some of them don’t come to school apart from me, who happens to be from this community,” Alkali stated.

He appealed to the Local Education Authority (LEA) of the council to deploy more teachers to the school, noting that those posted often request transfers due to insecurity in the rural area.

An official from the LEA in Kuje, who chose to remain anonymous, confirmed that the issue has been reported to the council chairman for urgent action.

However, concerned parents continue to withdraw their children, citing the unfavorable learning environment.

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