Students Learning Under Harsh Conditions At Pula Town School

By: Emmanuel Tarpeh Quiah=Maryland County

MONROVIA-Students attending the Pula Town Public School in Maryland County are learning under very seriously harsh conditions as their school buildings, already dilapidated, are crumbling under them.

Our Maryland County reporter who witnessed the conditions under which the students are learning described the situation as appalling.

The alarming state of the building was brought to light during a citizens’ engagement session convened by Maryland County Accountability and Advocacy Team (CAAT) in Pula Town, District #1.

Pula Town Public School is the only public school where children continue to learn under life-threatening conditions.

The gathering took placed on Friday, September 19, 2025.

With no formal town hall, the session took place under trees, a symbol of lack of infrastructure that extends to the school itself. Residents described the school which serves Early Childhood Development (ECD) through Junior High, as a “death trap” for students and teachers alike.

The ECD building is reportedly on the verge of collapse, with widening cracks and structural failure imminent.

Parents fear that heavy rains could bring the structure down while children are inside. The Elementary and Junior High sections are also unsafe: broken roofs leak during rains, soaking classrooms and forcing lessons to halt. “On rainy days, it’s impossible to teach properly. Water floods the rooms, and children are forced to avoid the wet floors,” one teacher lamented.

The crisis extends to the unfinished Teachers’ Quarters, where educators are forced to live in deplorable conditions. The situation of the school’s only female teacher, Mrs. Annie Clark, was singled out as dire. She sleeps on a makeshift bed of sticks inside the incomplete structure. “It is not just uncomfortable but unsafe. “I have no privacy and it’s difficult to stay motivated to teach in such conditions,” she said.

Residents expressed outrage over what they see as years of neglect by their leaders, particularly Maryland County Senator James Biney, who once represented the district and the current District #1 Representative, P. Mike Jury.

Community members accused both men of making campaign promises for better schools, roads, and services but failing to deliver. “We will not stay silent until our children can go to school without fear of the roof falling on their heads,” a mother declared.

The CAAT team ended the session by demanding swift intervention from Senator Biney and Representative Jury, urging immediate repairs and the completion of the Teachers’ Quarters. Citizens vowed to sustain pressure until action is taken, framing the decaying school buildings as both a symbol of broken promises and a rallying point for accountability.

Alphonso Toweh

Has been in the profession for over twenty years. He has worked for many international media outlets  including: West Africa Magazine, Africa Week Magazine, African Observer and  did occasional reporting for CNN, BBC World Service, Sunday Times, NPR, Radio Deutchewells, Radio Netherlands. He is the current correspondent for Reuters 
 He holds first  MA with honors in International  Relations and a  candidate for second master in International Peace studies and Conflict  Resolution from the University of Liberia.