300 students escape unhurt as staircase collapses at Kano girls’ school
Kano State School Staircase Collapse Leaves Hundreds Trapped
Approximately 300 students at Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Janbulo, in the Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State, narrowly avoided a disaster on Thursday when the staircase leading to their upstairs classrooms collapsed during class hours.
The incident occurred around 1:00 p.m. while students were in two upstairs classrooms. Staff members acted swiftly to evacuate the trapped students after hearing cries for help.
“We heard shouting from the one-storey building where about 300 students were taking lessons,” said Principal Hajiya Jamila Mustafa Mai Nasara. “We rushed to the area and discovered that the staircase had collapsed.”
Teachers procured a ladder to safely evacuate the students from the building. “Thanks to the quick actions of the staff, no lives were lost, and fortunately, no students were injured during the incident,” Mai Nasara added.
The school promptly informed the Kano State Secondary Schools Management Board and submitted a detailed report outlining the incident and the condition of the affected structure.
Mai Nasara described the collapse as a significant setback for the school, noting that the damaged classrooms were critical for science instruction. “These upstairs classrooms accommodate almost 30 percent of our science students,” she said.
The school has been grappling with a severe shortage of classrooms, making it difficult to adhere to the recommended class size of 40 students. Currently, more than 120 students are crammed into each classroom, and with the collapse of the staircase, the situation has worsened.
“We are concerned that we may have to ask some students to stay home if the government does not act quickly,” she said, appealing to the Kano State Government for urgent reconstruction of the staircase before the new academic session begins in September.
Currently, GGSS Janbulo has only eight classrooms and one laboratory. With the affected block out of service, just four classrooms remain available for teaching, with some accommodating over 130 students.
Mai Nasara noted that the affected building was constructed approximately 16 years ago and had shown signs of deterioration over the years. “The roof of the two upstairs classrooms had been leaking for the past four years before it was recently repaired, but the entire block still requires total renovation,” she explained.
This incident has raised alarm regarding the state of public school infrastructure in Kano State. As of now, the Kano State Ministry of Education has not issued any statements regarding the incident.
