MoE condemns headmistress for locking out students for reporting late

Ghana’s Ministry of Education (MoE) has condemned the action of Suhum Senior High and Technical School (SUTESCO) headmistress for locking out of some ‘Akufo-Addo graduates’ of SUTESCO for reporting late on campus.

As announced by President Akufo-Addo in his 12th televised nation’s address, all final year students in Senior high schools were to report to school on Monday, June 22, 2020, as part of the second phase in the ease of the coronavirus restrictions.

However, reports from some Senior High Schools on Monday indicated that some students including students of SUTESCO were denied entry into the school premises with reasons that they reported contrary to the school time.

Some students who arrived accompanied by their parents said “even though we reported earlier as expected, but we were asked to go back to trim our bushy hair before we will be permitted entry into the school”

According to them even after their return from the barbering salon, they were for the second time denied entry from entering the school because it was past 5:00 pm.

The Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Education Ministry, Kwasi Oben-Fosu speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb stated that even though the action by the school’s authorities was within their rules, current circumstances of COVID-19 pandemic makes it a wrong move.

The spokesperson quoting President Akufo-Addo said “We are not in normal times, you can’t expect to apply the normal rules and get the best of results in these challenging times of the pandemic. So if there are rules that will not be necessary we need to change those rules to ensure students are safe under our care”

He said the idea of sending the students back to town to shave posed danger to the students as it puts them in the position to contract the virus.

“The moment you ask the child to go back to town to barber, you don’t know whom the child is going to get into contact with. That is wrong in the first place, it is wrong to do that. If there is any way you can arrange for people to get the barbering done in school, I think that will be the best thing. But to allow the children to leave school and go back to town is not the best thing. Remember according to the directives the moment the child gets to the school even the parents are not allowed to visit them,” he lamented.

According to the Ministry’s spokesperson, the Education Ministry through the Ghana Education Service has launched investigations into the issue and will give the appropriate sanctions if necessary.

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“The Regional Education Office has been asked to investigate the issue and know what went wrong. I believe after the investigation has been concluded whatever sanction or action that must be taken will be done,” he assured.

Source: Georgeweb.org