Parents of pupils of the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School in Achimbi community, Kwaku Ward of Kuje Area Council in the FCT, have decried the shortage of teachers and the dilapidated condition of classrooms in the school.
Some parents who spoke with Abuja Metro during a visit to the community on Saturday, said the situation was negatively affecting pupils' learning.
They noted that despite having about 202 pupils from primary one to six, the school is run by only two teachers, including the headmaster.
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A parent, Mr Benjamin Adamu, said the shortage of teachers to handle various subjects has worsened learning conditions for both pupils and staff.
According to him, only one substantive teacher and a PTA-supported teacher are available to cater for the entire pupil population, making the workload overwhelming.
Another parent, Godiya Moses, said the lack of teachers has significantly affected the quality of learning in the school.
She called on the LEA management to recruit more teachers to improve teaching and learning outcomes.
"One cannot imagine that a school with a population of 202 pupils from primary one to six has only two teachers, and one of them is a PTA teacher from the village," she said.
Also speaking, the chairman of the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA), Habaku Iliya, described the shortage of teachers as a major challenge confronting the school.
He said the association had repeatedly raised the issue during visits by education supervisors, as well as through written complaints to the LEA, but no action had been taken.
Iliya also lamented the poor state of infrastructure in the school, noting that the buildings are in a state of disrepair due to lack of renovation by the council authorities and the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB).
According to him, most of the classrooms are dilapidated, with some roofs blown off by windstorms, while others have no windows. He added that parts of the buildings have collapsed, making it difficult for pupils to learn, especially during rainfall.
"Whenever it rains, the classrooms become flooded due to leaking roofs, leaving no space for pupils to sit and learn," he said.
He further disclosed that pupils sometimes stay at home during rainy periods because of the poor condition of the classrooms.
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Iliya urged the LEA authorities to liaise with the FCT UBEB to urgently renovate the school and deploy more teachers, particularly as the rainy season sets in.
"Our appeal to the LEA is to work with the FCT UBEB to renovate the school now that the rainy season has started. With the suspension of the teachers' strike, efforts should be made to make learning conducive," he said.
A visit to the school showed that several classrooms lack windows, some ceilings have caved in, walls are cracked, and parts of the roofs have been blown off.
Efforts to get the reaction of the Public Relations Officer of the FCT UBEB, Lawal Ibrahim, were unsuccessful as he could not be reached for comment.
However, a senior official of the board, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the school had already been captured in the budget for renovation.
He added that the process of recruiting more teachers was ongoing, noting that the file is currently before the minister for approval to employ additional teachers for schools, particularly in rural communities across the FCT.
