COMMITTEE SET UP TO PROBE CLOSURE OF KWAHU RIDGE SHS (PAGE 30, OCT 12)

A FOUR-MEMBER committee has been set up to investigate the circumstances leading to the closure of the Kwahu Ridge Senior High School (SHS) at Obo-Kwahu in the Eastern Region last Sunday.
The closure followed the students’ agitation against the Headmistress, Madam Anita Jackson, who, they demanded should be removed from the school.
The students marched to the office of the Kwahu South District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Joseph Omari, who convinced them to rescind their decision after which they went back to the school in buses provided by the DCE only to continue with the demonstration.
Sources close to the Eastern Regional Education Directorate at Koforidua said members of the committee were drawn from the Regional Directorate of Education, the Kwahu South District Directorate of Education, the Board of Governors of the school, the Parent-Teacher Association and the Kwahu South District Assembly.
The committee, which, according to the source, will be inaugurated on Monday, October 12, will give hearing to both the headmistress and the students and come up with recommendations.
When the Daily Graphic visited the school last Thursday, the place was quiet and deserted with only two watchmen, a handful of tutors and Madam Jackson at post.
Madam Jackson, however, refused to comment on the issue with the explanation that since a committee had been set up to deal with it, it was improper to give her side of the story.
However, investigations gathered from some of the students from Obo town indicated that they were demanding the immediate transfer of the headmistress for her failure to ensure that their dormitories which leaked were rehabilitated and the quantity and quality of their meals improved.
According to the investigations, when the school re-opened for the academic year, many boarding students were not able to pay anything in respect of fees but the school authorities decided not to send them home and rather fed them from the fees paid by others and that affected the quantity and quality of the meals.
It was also found out that the boys’ dormitory was not safe for habitation and as a result, the students had to be housed in other structures, such as the old dining hall, where they did not feel comfortable and so blamed the headmistress for not doing anything about their bad conditions.
 The investigations further revealed that there had been bad blood between the headmistress and the Chairman of the PTA, one Dr Obeng, who, although had been on the board for nine years, had no child or ward in the school currently and so the headmistress wanted him removed.
According to the investigations, on October 3, this year, Dr Obeng openly requested for the removal of the headmistress during a meeting of stakeholders on the agitation of the students.
Following that, the students ignored all pleas to take their meals and resume classes from dignitaries such as the Obohene, Nana Afari Boadjan, the DCE, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area as well as the District Police Commander.
When contacted on the issue, Mr Omari expressed regret at the stand taken by the students but said efforts were being made to resolve the problem as soon as possible for the students to be recalled.
“We are doing our best to resolve the crisis so that the students would not have to stay any longer at home,” Mr Omari stated.