The students fetching the water from the dam
Students of the Pong Tamale Senior High School have been compelled to drink dam water due to the lack of potable water in the school.
The pipes in the school have been locked for about a month now, forcing students to source water from a dam located around the school.
The only dam which is the source of water is shared with residents living in the Pong Tamale community.
A visit by DGN Online, witnessed students fetching water from the dam to the school with their buckets and yellow gallons.
Some of the students who spoke to DGN Online , revealed that they use the dam water to prepare their food as well as in some cases drink it.
‘Imagine we students using this water to soak gari and taking it inside our stomach and we all know this water will give us waterborne diseases ‘.
Most of the female students, complained that their skin itches including their private parts due to the water they use in washing their cloths.
They lamented about the distance they walk to the dam to fetch water and appealed to government and other institutions to come to their aid to ensure that they are able to concentrate on the studies.
Students Hits with Diseases
A student , John(not real name) told DGN Online that several students have been admitted at the Savelugu Hospital in the Savelugu municipality due to the intake of the dam water.
According to the student , a doctor at the school asked them the kind of food or water they take at the school because the number being admitted at the facility keeps increasing daily.
Where Ghana Stands
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) VI, which Ghana is a signatory to, talks about ensuring available and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
The global effort to achieve sanitation and water for all by 2030 is extending beyond the household to include institutional settings, such as schools, healthcare facilities and workplaces.
This has been reinforced by global education for all strategies highlighting how water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools improves access to education and learning outcomes, particularly for girls, by providing a safe, inclusive and equitable learning environment for all.
But data shows that the country’s progress towards achieving that goal is very slow, especially in schools.
In Ghana, close to six million people (nearly 22 per cent) rely on surface water to meet their daily water needs, leaving them vulnerable to water-related illness and disease, according to WaterAid, Ghana.
Further, 67 per cent of Ghanaians lack access to improved sanitation or are entirely without toilet facilities.
School authorities declined to comment on the situation when DGN Online contacted them.
FROM Eric Kombat, Pong Tamale
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