No Roof, No Water, No Chairs’ – Rivers State Parents Speak Out on Rivers’ School Disaster
Rivers State, one of the oil-rich states in Nigeria, ranks among the top four states receiving the highest federal allocations. Accordingly, Rivers State receives more than ₦ 426.84 billion federal allocation every month. Despite these huge resources, our reporter reveals that many public primary and secondary schools in the state remain in a deplorable and abandoned state.
By way of emphasis, in 2024, the Rivers State’s budgetary allocation to the education sector stood at N 40. 426 billion, but sadly, many of the state’s public primary schools are far from being conducive to learning.
The New Daily Prime recently visited some of the schools and it was all the same tales of woes and neglect everywhere.
For instance, Ibaa Community School which is located in Ibaa Community in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, tells a story of neglect and abandonment. It is equally the same sorry state for State School Sangana located at Diobu in Port Harcourt Local Government Area.
Ibaa Community Primary School III, which was initially built as a large facility to accommodate many pupils, has now become a shadow of its former self. Only six classrooms remain standing, with leaking roofs, broken doors and windows, damaged chairs, and disused toilet facilities infested with flies and reptiles.
Also, two newly constructed water tanks have three taps attached to a tiled wall, yet there was no drop of water from the tanks.
Moreover, the school has an extensive open wide field covered with trimmed grasses, but is not walled round to check intruders from entering into the compound amid the growing insecurity across the country.
Also, on the left side of the school lies an unroofed building covered with tall and wild grasses.
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When New Daily Prime made inquiries about the building, one resident of the community, Harvest Amusonu confirmed that building was part of the school’s property.
While speaking on the issue , Mrs. Uchechi Orji, a resident and a mother of three, reminisced about the state of schools in the past,echoing that they were truly centres of quality education unlike now where most schools look like shanties and are abandoned.
She said: “I was shocked and disappointed when I came to enroll my child in this school. Most public primary schools now have nothing left to inspire any parent. They are neglected, abandoned and not okay for any learning activities.”
“She continued: ‘The learning environment has affected our children negatively, to the extent that the majority of them have left school due to the lack of learning facilities.’
Lamenting in the same vein, Mrs. Doris Ukpo disclosed that the lack of school facilities has led to the withdrawal of some students, including hers, leaving them with no choice but to enroll them in private schools.
She wondered whether the deplorable state of public schools in the state was a result of corruption and inefficiency.
However, a teacher, Mr. Peter Okon, called on the state government to rebuild neglected schools and equip them with modern facilities to ensure quality education.
He said: ‘Please help us pass this message to the government—that in this community called Ibaa, there is not a single good school.’
Another parent, Mrs. Gloria Ibe, spoke in the same vein, adding, “Due to the poor condition of many of our primary schools, our children are not acquiring quality knowledge. When they go to school today, they are absent the next day because they have to sit on the bare floor. Did you see any seats inside the classrooms? There are no chairs. Our kids are suffering. We, as mothers, are suffering, and so is the entire community due to the continued neglect of public primary schools.
Let the government put the school in better condition so that our children can learn in a more conducive environment,’ she added.
Also, New Daily Prime recently visited State School Sangana, located in Diobu, Port Harcourt Local Government Area (PHALGA).
The school, which accommodates pupils from Primary One to Primary Six, showed clear signs of neglect and abandonment.
One notable storey building in the school, which consists of several rooms meant to be classrooms, is not fully covered. Half of the building has no roof, making it unsafe for pupils to study.
Additionally, some damaged seats have been used to barricade the unprotected entrances upstairs to prevent casualties or accidents.
The attached one storey building was partly painted yellow with description written; “2017 FGN UBE/RSUBEB INTERVENTION FUNDS PROJECT.”
Mr. Johnson Mbaze revealed that the school faces a major challenge of water shortage due to a faulty pipe and that, oftentimes, the school purchases water from local suppliers within its vicinity.
Additionally, some children were seen urinating in front of their classrooms due to the non-functioning school water system.
It was observed that the school, located near the Mile 1 Market area, has traders selling their goods both in front of and behind the school’s main and back gates, thereby posing serious security challenges in its vicinity.
A resident, who preferred to remain anonymous, called for the state government’s intervention to relocate the illegal market near the school.
He added that such a measure would reduce crime and better protect the school’s children.
‘I want the government to come and take care of the school because it has remained in this state since the tenure of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi. I believe the state government is aware of the deplorable condition of this school,’ he stated.
Similarly , in an online youtube, students of the Sangana school listed the needs of their school , as the majority of them urged the state government to complete the abandoned school which has been left so for many years now.
The same state of neglect, decay and abandonment were visible in some other schools the New Daily Prime visited.
A visit to those schools leaves a sour grape in the mouth, as one wonders where actually Rivers State’s huge budgetary allocation goes into.
Evidence suggests that a poor school environment negatively affects students’ attitudes, grades, and opportunities for better jobs. Also, a 2024 state-wide assessment revealed that about 90% of primary schools were dilapidated in the state.
However, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, while addressing the issue of the poor state of primary schools, expressed displeasure at the situation, affirming that the educational sector will experience a leap during his administration.
Experts’ insight
Dr. Echendu Ihedi of the Department of Psychology, University of Port Harcourt, explained that a dilapidated learning environment dents the learning process, as it serves as distraction and bears the burden of frustration for both students and teachers.
“Dilapidated learning environment is a cause for concern to both teachers and pupils. It impedes smooth learning interaction as it can be a source of distraction and frustration due to the structural outlay,” Ihedi noted.
He told New Daily Prime that poor learning structure can affect students’ self esteem which is as a result of feeling inadequate, “Hence, schools’ physical conditions may diminish the self confidence of students as they may feel abandoned.
As an issue of concern, Dr. Ihedi called for urgent government intervention, highlighting steps to tackle the high level of public dilapidated schools across the state.
“The government is to undertake an urgent rehabilitation procedure through either direct labour or award of contract to effect the desired restoration,” he added.
In the same vein, a retired school principal in the state, Mrs Regina Akpor echoed Dr lhedi’s sentiment, saying that a poor school environment impedes learning and the ability of pupils or students to grasp fast, and could, consequently lead to very poor performance in learning outcomes.
