Children of the Gasi community in Gombe State are learning under a tree in unimaginable deplorable conditions as the government under the supervisor of Mr. Muhammad Inuwa, the State Governor, has failed to build a school for them.
A visit by Tracka, a public accountability organization, to the school revealed how the children that are over 200 in number learn under a tree and a small tattered hot made with roofing Zink and mud block that are serving as chairs.
Apart from the tattered terrible hot made with roofing Zink, other children were seen learning under a tree, a situation that is totally unacceptable in any decent learning environment.
The Gasi Primary School, located in Gasi community in Balanga Local Government Area of Gombe state, can be best described as a zoo where animals are kept and not humans.
Residents who spoke on the deplorable nature of the school recounted how their children do not go to school during raining season, because they get soaked in water as a result of the leaking roof and muddy blocks used as chairs that get wet with water, making it impossible for the children to sit and learn when it is raining.
Parents in the community, however, pointed out that the bad situation discourages them from sending their kids to school.
When the Gombe State failed to provide classrooms for the kids, the community last year, using a communal effort built a small hut made with Zink to shelter them and to serve as their classroom while they learn.
Mr. Sambo, the school headmaster who decried the situation, narrated how the teachers contribute their personal money to buy teaching materials to teach the children.
Even as the school is hugely deplorable, children from many communities such as Garin Salihu Randam, Garin Fada Katsinawa, Panglang Anguwan Musa, Batu Anguwan, and Jauro Iliya depend on it for formal education as they trek a distance of over 10 to 15 kilometers to the school.
Mr. Hassan Sambo, the community leader, speaking to Tracka officials, says the school has been deplorable since 2017, recounting how erosion destroyed the school building and since then the government has refused to build another classroom for the kids. And, this is even as they made many efforts for the state government to help in building the school.