300 students escape tragedy after staircase collapses at Kano girls' school
Hundreds of students of Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Janbulo, in Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State, escaped what could have been a tragic incident after a staircase connecting classrooms on the upper floor of a school building suddenly collapsed during lessons on Thursday.
The structural failure occurred at about 1:00 p.m. while nearly 300 students were attending classes upstairs, leaving them temporarily stranded.
According to the school's principal, Hajiya Jamila Mustafa Mai Nasara, teachers immediately swung into action after hearing distress calls from the students. A ladder was quickly brought to the scene, enabling staff to safely evacuate everyone from the building without recording any injuries or fatalities.
Following the incident, the school management notified the Kano State Secondary Schools Management Board and submitted a formal report detailing the collapse and the condition of the affected building.
Mai Nasara said the incident has further worsened the school's infrastructure challenges, noting that the damaged block houses a significant number of science students. She explained that overcrowding is already a major concern, with some classrooms accommodating more than 120 learners.
She appealed to the Kano State Government to urgently rehabilitate the damaged structure and rebuild the collapsed staircase before the commencement of the new academic session in September.
The principal also disclosed that the school now has even fewer teaching spaces after losing the affected block. According to her, the institution operates with only eight classrooms and one laboratory, while the 16-year-old building had long shown signs of deterioration, including roof leakages that were only recently addressed.
The incident has renewed concerns over the safety of ageing infrastructure in public schools across Kano State, with stakeholders calling for urgent assessment and rehabilitation of dilapidated educational facilities. The Kano State Ministry of Education had yet to issue an official response as of the time of filing this report.
Comments