“The fire has come and gone but we still do not feel safe, this whole area is an educational enclave. “We have four fuel stations around us, one that exploded at Atomic Junction, Oando, Goil and Engen on the southern part of the school, for me it is a source of grave concern.”

Madam Akrofi-Asiedu raised the concern when the Education Committee of Parliament paid a visit to the School to get first-hand information on the damage caused to it by the gas explosion at Atomic Junction on Oct.7, 2017.

The Committee’s visit was also to interact with the authorities as to what happened and how the school had been able to contain the situation so far.  The Committee’s assessment could help for recommendations to be made to the appropriate authorities to see how best the problem could be solved.        

The gas explosion claimed seven lives, leaving 132 victims with varied degrees of injuries.

Madam Akrofi-Asiedu, therefore, urged the Government to do whatever it takes to make sure the staff and students feel safe. Narrating the incident to the Committee, she said on that Saturday evening the students, with the Assistant Headmaster for Domestic Affairs and some teachers, were at the Assembly Hall listening to a talk by officials of the National Commission for Civic Education.

She said suddenly they heard an explosion, followed by a second explosion, then naturally, they started running out of the hall for safety. Madam Akrofi-Asiedu said the Assistant Headmaster and the teachers quickly came out and directed the students towards the southern gate, which is opposite the BUSAC Hostel.

She said she quickly inquired from the school’s electrician, who told her there was an explosion at the Atomic Junction and asked that the transformer be switched off.  Besides, other teachers too went round the various dormitories to direct students to a safer place. Some of the students were led to the BUSAC Hostel, others to the Trinity Theological Seminary, and the rest to the Chartered Institute of Accountancy whilst few others found their way home.

She said after the incident the students were taken through professional counselling, adding that more of such therapies would be used to help the students to overcome the shock. Madam Akrofi-Asiedu said the authorities had invited the Ghana National Fire Service to educate the students on fire and safety practices and that a better alternative would be found in the School as an emergency evacuation point.

On the implementation of the Free SHS Policy, she explained that the School had enrolled 989 students, out of which 582 are borders and 417 day students. She said the Sciences enrolled 521, General Arts 199, Business 182, Visual Arts 42 and General Agriculture 45.

Madam Akrofi-Asiedu said out of the four core subjects text books they had receive three; Mathematics, Social Studies and Integrated Science. She said they were yet to receive the English Language Text Book.

Later the Committee also visited the Kwabenya Senior High School near Atomic Energy Commission to acquaint itself with the school’s programmes and the challenges with the implementation of the Free SHS Policy. Mrs Elizabeth Sam, the Headmistress of the School, briefing the Committee, said the major challenge was lack of furniture adding that the School had been able to enrol 475 students for the Free SHS programme.

She called on the team to help the school by reporting its findings to the appropriate authorities for support.