By Hassan I. Conteh

A young boy, age 12, strains to bend down on his left to skillfully win over the ball from his playmate at Khulafai Rashideen Primary school compound.

He dressed in a tight nylon shorts. Umaru is a playful boy like his peers.

The boys at Futune Street, York Road in Waterloo are playful. But they don’t have good playing fields. The environment is not clean too.

Tyres are burnt in the school compound where Umaru and others are playing.

The burnt out black particles motor-tyres gather in power where the boy’s goal with stones on either side are placed.

Some lawless residents in Waterloo are always in the habit of burning tyres on streets’ junctions.

Some people don’t know the black smoke affects them. The thick posinous smoke causes illnesses if it passes into one’s nostril.

At Khulafai  Rashideen Primary school, the black powdered dust from tyres almost get the boys lost out of sight when stepping on to it.

So the playground is not good for children. The school like others in Sierra Leone don’t have playing fields.

Other schools don’t have open grounds for pupils’ assembly.

The right to play is one that any child in the world must enjoy. But most children in Sierra Leone don’t have friendly places to play in school and at home.

The United Nations Children Emergency Fund ( UNICEF) , Save the Children , Don Bosco Fambul and Catholic Relief Service ( CRS) help children to get better education.

They also stress the need for school authorities to allow children to play in a safe and decent environment.

But most private school owners are without large open spaces where children could play and have fun.

The thirst for money and profits override their duty to leave open grounds with plants and flowers around the compound. Public schools also fall short of this as they lack breath-taking garden or playing fields.

This sad reality exists in most schools open up by government across Sierra Leone.

While state officers don’t inspect private schools, exploitation thrives on and children are denied the chance to play and learn in eco-friendly environments.