By Mabinty M. Kamara
A recent fire outbreak along Bai Bureh Road, in Rokupa East of Freetown, has forced the management of Cecilia Memorial Preparatory School to revert to a two-shift system in a bid to accommodate all the pupils in the classrooms not affected by the disaster.
The school authorities say this was the only way out considering the fact that class six pupils are preparing to take the National Primary School Examination in two months.
Nafieu Ganda, proprietress of the school in an interview with Politico said the fire outbreak started on Monday 22nd February 2021, between the hours of 8 and 9 pm. She said the fire was caused by a spark an electricity extension cable in a carpentry workshop located in the school compound which is also owned by the school management.
Mrs. Ganda said they have called for a Community Teachers Meeting to explain their decision to have a two-shift system to the people.
“Everything burnt down…the plan that we have now is for us to go into a shift system because the remaining buildings in the school compound cannot accommodate all the kids at the same time. So we decided to revert to a shift system wherein all the other kids from nursery 1-3 and classes 1-3 can come in the morning while 4,5, 6 can come in the afternoon,” she said.
Aware of the fact that it is not in the best interest of the kids, Mrs. Ganda said it was only an emergency response to the situation as they look forward for support from well-wishers to help the kids get “a conducive learning environment.”
She added that but for the swift intervention of the community youths, the remaining structures in the school would have gone down because, she said by the time the National Fire Service arrived on the scene, they had already put the situation under control.
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