MAINTENANCE OF BUILDINGS IN PUBLIC SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN WA MUNICIPAL

Abstract

The deterioration of buildings hampers its ability to perform adequately, thus it is important to ensure proper maintenance to prevent deterioration. Public senior high school buildings in Ghana represent significant investment of the tax payers' money and therefore maintaining these buildings is important. However, there seems to be paucity of studies on maintenance of public buildings in general and Wa Municipality in particular. This research seeks to bridge this knowledge gap by analysing the maintenance practices of buildings in public senior high schools in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region of Ghana. The research gathered data from both secondary and primary sources and used the mixed method approach. The key instruments used for the data collection were questionnaire, interview guides, focus group discussion guide and observation checklist. A total of 393 respondents (197 students, 140 teachers and 56 school management) who took part in this study were purposively selected. The study found out that the current state of the dormitories, classroom blocks and teachers bungalows of the public senior high schools in the Wa Municipality is satisfactory for academic work, albeit not meeting best standard. It was realized that past maintenance activities at the public senior high schools in the Wa Municipality have been poor. The study also found out that the major stakeholders involved in the maintenance and repairs of the public senior school buildings in the Wa Municipality are the governments, professionals which include contractors, engineers, architects, facility managers, etc. Others include the teaching and non-teaching staff, PTA, students, GES, Municipal Assembly, school management. The rest are NGO's, the Media, Olds Students Association but none of these stakeholders perform their roles creditably. Finally, the study revealed maintenance constraints factors as lack of reporting of buildings defects to the Education Office by school authorities, lack of cooperation between GES, Municipal Assembly and school management, lack of maintenance unit in the schools, poor maintenance culture of the schools, lack of funds from government and inadequate contribution from PTA. It is recommended that there should be a conscious effort to include maintenance activities in the budget of the schools, GES and the school management should work with the Department or Works and Housing to ensure good maintenance of their buildings. In addition government through the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Works and Housing should enact a public school maintenance policy/Act. This will enforce adherence to maintenance culture in all the schools thereby ensuring good maintenance practice.