Abandoned school building turned business centre, church hub
The usual babbling sounds of schoolchildren, bells for change of lessons, and the flying high of the Ghana flag on public school compounds are missing at the once vibrant school premises of the old Mante-Din school at Tema Community 1.
Pupils and staff of the school were relocated into a new site on the Oninku Drive School premises, where one of the newly constructed Tema Industrial City School blocks was constructed to accommodate them.
The initiative championed by the then Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr. Isaac Ashai Odamtten, was aimed at revamping the educational sector of the metropolis.
After nearly a decade of the relocating of the school population, the premises opposite the Tema Sports Stadium, which was initially abandoned, have been taken over by small businesses and churches.
The Ghana News Agency (GNA) observed that some of the abandoned classrooms have been turned into production hubs for plantain chips and bread, while people gather in others to worship God both day and night.
Mr. Isaac Mensah, a resident near the abandoned building, reminisced about its active days, saying that they heard that the premises would be used for the construction of a shopping mall.
A former student of the school, who gave her name as Cecilia, stated that before its relocation, the school had no accommodation for Junior High School, noting that pupils from the school had to continue at other schools.
She added, however, that the new structure made it possible for them to have a JHS of their own, making their education seamless.
Ms. Adwoa Ammisah, another former student of Mante-din, praised the school for shaping their future, noting that even though it is currently not in use, the place does not harbour criminals due to the lighting system and it being used for business operations and church activities.
She, however, appealed to authorities to rehabilitate the school structure to befit the area instead of its current state.
Mr. Charles Amos, the Assemblyman for the Padmore Electoral Area, told the GNA that he allocated some of the classrooms for the current activities there to ward off criminals.
“When the schools were relocated, it began to harbour criminals, so I told the churches to worship in there and maintain the place, but they are not paying anything to the assembly or to myself. When they are ready to use the place for the intended project, they will move out,” he added.
Source: GNA