Serious concerns are mounting over the safety and welfare of both students and staff at Sefwi Wiawso Senior High Technical School, as the only available kitchen facility on campus has turned into a death trap.
Despite its alarming condition, the facility remains in daily use, putting not only students but also the matrons and kitchen staff who work there at constant risk.
A visit by Sefwinews to the school revealed that the kitchen, built with weak wooden planks and topped with iron roofing sheets, is deteriorating rapidly. The wooden structure has wide gaps, shaky frames, and visible signs of decay.
Yet, it remains the main facility where food for thousands of students is prepared every day. For the matrons and their assistants, spending long hours in such a structure means working under dangerous conditions that could collapse at any time.
Alongside the kitchen, the dining hall — though more stable — is modest and overstretched. It is an open-air structure with a low block wall, roofed with corrugated sheets, and furnished with rows of wooden benches and tables. At peak hours, the space becomes overcrowded, with students enduring long queues and cramped conditions just to get their meals.
Though school authorities declined to comment due to Ghana Education Service (GES) restrictions, students who spoke with Sefwinews shared their frustrations. “The kitchen is a death trap, but it is the only place where our food is prepared,” one student lamented.
Another added, “The dining hall is too small for all of us, so sometimes eating here is very uncomfortable.” Some students also expressed worry for the matrons, saying the situation puts their lives in danger since they spend more time working inside the weak structure.
Parents and stakeholders in the community are alarmed by the situation, warning that the continuous use of such unsafe structures could lead to dire consequences.
They are urging government, the Ministry of Education, and relevant agencies to act quickly by reconstructing the kitchen and expanding the dining hall to meet the needs of the growing student population.
Sefwi Wiawso Senior High Technical School, one of the major second-cycle institutions in the Western North Region, continues to play a vital role in technical and secondary education.
Stakeholders argue that the school deserves facilities that match its reputation, not ones that endanger the lives of students and staff.
Until urgent action is taken, both students and matrons remain caught between preparing food in a death trap kitchen and eating in an overstretched dining hall — a situation that underscores the pressing need for investment in school infrastructure.
