Goroka Secondary School
Situational Report - 4th June, 2011.
BURNING DOWN OF THE SCIENCE LABORATRY AT GOROKA SECONDARY SCHOOL
1. Introduction.
This is a short brief of the incident at Goroka Secondary School on the early morning of Saturday 4th June, 2011.
The school Science Laboratory (Biology) building was brought down in ashes on Saturday at around 1:30am to 2:00am. The cause is not known but it seems that it may have been an electrical fault between the Science office and the Printing room.
The Fire fighters were called in and were at the scene with both vehicles. The water in the tanks was not enough to bring the situation under control. DCA fire truck was also at the scene assisting with water but the intensity of the heat and flames was greater than the water available to put the fire out. When the fire trucks ran out of water and went to refill at North, the building came down completely especially the eastern section. The efforts by the fire fighters and the boys prevented the spread to the other laboratories. The staff children and the Lopi boys fought courageously along side the fire fighters to stop the spread.
Some of the contents from the Physics & Chemistry labs were moved to 11.2 classroom by the helpers as the fire was moving westwards along the building.
None of the contents in the eastern part of the block were saved due to the intensity of the heat. Efforts were worthless as the spread of the flame was faster where the papers were (printing room, Science office and the DODL office).
There were more spectators than helpers on that morning. I thank the fire fighters for their efforts, the DCA, the five boys (students) and the staff children for helping on the night.
Pictures taken at 6:30 in the morning.
Part of the Biology Lab in the foreground.
The burnt building in the back ground.
One of the scenes during the burning
Some of the teachers discussing the cause.
2. A Brief description of the various rooms and contents in the rooms at the time of the incident.
2.1.DODL Office – the records at Semester One, 2011 records of the students. 6 computers, a printer with scanner & copier, all booklets of the different courses offered, and personal items of the co-ordinator.
2.2.Printing Room – Two duplo printing machine ( DP100, DS23), A Risograph machine, a Photocopier ( cannon brand – IR3300), TV Screen with CD player, Video player, 40 boxes of paper with all test papers, assignments and worksheets that were put in for printing.
2.3.Science Department Office- 2 x computers with a printer, Radio with CD player, All text books of Physics, Chemistry & Biology, Applied Science, and Geology. All Science equipment ( microscopes, skeleton, dummies of human organs, wind vane, thermometers, electronic weighing machine, sample fossils, chemicals, all teaching programs/files/assessment work. Personal items of the department head.
2.4. Biology Laboratory- 10 Benches & 60 stools with metal frames, the laboratory itself, the OH projectors, and other Biology teaching apparatus/equipment.
3. The Usage of the whole Science Building (Block).
The fire destroyed the DODL office, the Printing room, the Science Department office and the Biology Laboratory. The contents in these rooms are worth more than the building itself. The whole building is divided into 6 rooms. On one side towards the west are the Science laboratories. On the eastern side, the building housed the Printing room and the DODL Office.
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| Physics Lab | Chemistry Lab | Biology Lab | Sci.Dept Office | Printing Room | DODL Office | ||
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| Veranda | Veranda | Veranda | Veranda | Veranda | Veranda |
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| Where fire started | |||||||
4. Cost Analysis
Office Area Value of Contents
DODL Office – K 50,000.00
Printing Room – K240, 000.00
Science Department Office – K 250,000.00
Biology Laboratory - K 43,000.00
The whole building - K300, 000.00
Total cost = K880, 000.00
5. Needs of the school now.
The incident certainly has brought the school to a stop. To look for almost a million kina at this stage looks almost impossible. The students’ learning has been brought to a halt. There are immediate needs and long term needs that the school is in need of.
6.1. Immediate Needs of the School (K500, 000.00)
1. Two Printing Machines ( Heavy Duty) with consumable items
2. One Photo copier with consumable items
3. A4 Paper – 40 boxes
4. Science text Books
5. Science equipment ( 6x microscopes , dummies, skeleton)
6. 3 Computers with two printers ( Sci. Dept / DODL)
7. DODL teaching materials (Units) – Unitech Lae to look into it.
6.2. Long term needs (K380, 000.00)
1. Biology Laboratory
2. Office Space for DODL, SCIENCE Office, and Printing
Actions Taken:
The incident was witnessed by the PPC and his senior CID officer. Investigations will take place in due course. The Fire Brigade did their own search and investigations on Saturday morning and will soon have its report done. Post Courier rep. Michael Koma was around on Saturday and will have this incident covered in the newspaper.
The efforts taken by the fire brigade and the few students and staff member children saved the other two labs. Otherwise the whole block would have been in ashes. I salute them for their courageous effort.
Immediate Staff, SRC and BOG meetings will take place followed by a Parents meeting on Wednesday.
Conclusion
The damage has left a huge gap in the progress of the school for the year. The immediate effect on the students and the teachers will take a while to recover especially for the Science department. It is hoped that with a collective effort from all stake holders, the students and the teachers can turn this into a positive learning experience and move forward.
Positive actions will be taken in consultation with all stake holders so that learning continues for students. With God’s guidance and wisdom, I hope to see the school end successfully and heal the wound in due course.
Concerned Stakeholders are invited to assist with whatever means and ways they can to help build and together we move on.
Thank you.
Principal
John Onga
