A FOUR-member committee has been set up to investigate the circumstances leading to the closure last Sunday of the Kwahu Ridge Senior High School at Obo in the Eastern Region.
The closure followed the students’ agitations against the Headmistress, Madam Anita Jackson, who they demanded should be removed from the school.
They marched to the office of the Kwahu South District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Joseph Omari, who managed to make them rescind their decision after which they went back to the school in buses provided by the DCE, only to continue with the demonstrations.
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 and parent-teacher association of the school and the Kwahu South District Assembly.
The committee would give hearing to both the headmistress and the students and come out with recommendations.
When the Daily Graphic visited the school, the place was quiet and looked deserted with only two watchmen, a handful of tutors and Madam Anita Jackson, the Headmistress, who were 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.
Investigations gathered from some of the students from the Obo township, however, indicated that the students were demanding the immediate transfer of the headmistress for failing to ensure that their dormitories which leaked would be rehabilitated and the quantity and quality of their meals improved.
According to 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 but to be fed from the fees paid by others and that affected the size 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, which they were not comfortable with and blamed the headmistress for not doing anything about it.
The investigations further revealed that there had been bad blood between the headmistress and the Chairman of the PTA, Dr K. Obeng, who although had been on the board for nine years currently had no child or ward in the school, so the headmistress wanted him to be removed.
According to the investigations, Dr Obeng also last Saturday October 3 openly requested for the removal of the headmistress during a meeting of stakeholders on the students’ agitations.
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 MP for the area, as well as the District Police Commander.
When contacted on the issue, the DCE, 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 the best to resolve the crisis so that the students would not have to stay any longer at home,” Mr Omari assured.
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