I FELT sorry for the students and authorities of the Business Senior High School (BISCO) in Tamale when I read in the papers that fire had gutted the administration block of the school on Saturday, June 25, this year.
The blaze, reportedly, destroyed valuable properties, including computers, air-conditioners, books and 700 mattresses.
In fact, a retired teacher of the school, Mr Issah Issahaku, was reported in the Daily Graphic as saying that the whole administration block needs to be rebuilt judging from the extent of damage caused by the fire.
As I read this story, the thoughts that run through my mind was “why should it be BISCO.” This is a school that is already riddled with numerous challenges and whiles the school’s authorities continue to plead for some attention, there comes such a disaster.
How will the school rebuild and refurnish, when it is obvious it lacks the financial wherewithal. I hope the government and corporate institutions would extend a hand of support to the school to enable it recover from this mess.
BISCO, which was established in the 1960s in Nyohini, a suburb of Tamale, is currently in a quagmire of setbacks. One the biggest headaches of the school, from my enquiries, is how to stop the increasing spate of encroachment on the school’s land.
Some inhabitants of Nyohini and other surrounding communities continue to develop settlements on portions of land that is supposed to belong to the school.
Each year, the settlements get closer and closer to the school. One day, it would be difficult to separate the school surroundings from the community and this could pose some real problems.
Already, schools, like the Ghana Senior High School, are having a huge challenge getting people who have settled very close to the school structures to vacate.
No wonder the Headmaster of BISCO, Mr Saaka Bakeri Awari was reported in the media expressing fears that the school’s environs and the neighbouring communities could be merged into a single community and this could have negative implications for the maintenance of discipline.
He also noted that soon the school may not have adequate space to construct more classroom blocks, dormitories, administrative blocks and staff accommodation.
Mr Awari therefore pleaded with the government, corporate bodies and alumni to support the school to construct a wall to fence the school’s premises so as to halt further encroachment and safeguard the rest of the land.
Apart from protecting school lands, a fence wall would also help the authorities to supervise the movement and activities of the students so as to guard against undisciplined behaviour.
The current image of the school in terms of indiscipline leaves much to be desired. And this is largely due to the absence of a fence wall, which has allowed the boarding students to move in and out of the campus easily without control.
All manner of persons have 24-hour access to the school, therefore exposing the students to all kinds of dangers, including theft and sexual harassment.
Another major problem that confronts BISCO is its exposure to floods. In the construction of the Tamale-Nyankpala road, the gutter on the BISCO side of the road was left midway.
The uncompleted portion is directed towards the school’s premises and therefore water that is collected in the drain runs directly onto the school’s premises.
During the rainy season, the quantity of water in the drain increases significantly and this flows onto the school’s premises causing floods.
The floods have caused erosion on several portions of the school’s surroundings and consequently the landscaping has lost its beauty.
This is certainly a concern that should be placed right at the door step of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA). I hope Alhaji Haruna Friday, the mayor of Tamale, has already started doing something about this. If he has not, then he must do it now before a catastrophe occurs.
And like many other schools, BISCO is faced with the challenge of not having enough space to accommodate its students and staffs.
The schools population, according to Mr Awari, is about 2300 and yet it has limited boarding facilities to house the boarding students, which has therefore led to overcrowding in the various dormitories.
Whiles both boys and girls are facing the same challenge, the former have been lucky. A new boys’ dormitory is currently under construction.
When completed, it would help decongest the existing boys’ dormitories. A similar project for the girls would certainly be in order.
As expected, BISCO also needs more classrooms. Information I gathered indicates that, last year, BISCO admitted 500 new students and were nearly plunged into a crisis due to the four-year system.
Thankfully, the GETFund provided a new 6-unit classroom block with a recreational hall, bath and toilet for the school. This provided some relief.
The GETFund has also awarded on contract an 18-unit classroom block project to augment the current number of classrooms.
With all these problems, one cannot help but advocate support for BISCO.
Although all the problems of BISCO cannot be addressed in a single stitch, some efforts should be made to tackle the challenges one by one.
The TaMA, Northern Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC), GETFund, Education Ministry and other partners should combine efforts to breathe life into this school.
The question I am left pondering over is where have all the products of BISCO gone to? This is a school that enjoyed some good image in the 1990s and produced a lot of students.
BISCO is losing its shine and the time to revive it is now.
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