Students of AKro Senior High Technical School in Odumase Krobo of the Eastern Region are calling for the dismissal of some of their teachers over what they describe as sexual harassment.
In a letter intercepted by Starr News, the Students Representative Council listed many other disturbing happenings in the school that are affecting the academic standards.
“Some of the teachers engage in sexual relationships with the students and when students fail to accept their proposal, they (teachers) always find fault with them and find cause to punish them in class,” the SRC statement addressed to the school authorities said.
It added ” The students find it difficult to concentrate when these teachers come to class. For this fact that teachers are engaging in sexual relationship with students, these teachers hate to see the female students mingling with male students even at ordinary hours of the day. We are therefore confused as to whether we are in a mixed school or single sex school.
“We the student body recommend that these teachers be sacked from the school so the students can have the peace of mind to study. We hope our grievances will be listened to”.
Bellow is the full statement by the students
OUR PETITION, OUR REQUEST.
We, the students of Akro Senior High Technical School, write to your high office to listen to us and grant our request. We have suffered as present students of Akro and even our seniors who have left the school also testify the wickedness and the maltreatment by some of the teachers in the school.
We know that the suggestion box was our means to get our problem and concerns to the authority but we realized these teachers will go for whatever we wrote and refuse to send it to the appropriate quarters for solutions.
We students of Akro write this time to your high office of the GES hoping that our request will be granted.
Please help us, for we are in school to achieve our academic aims but not to suffer as slaves.
Our parents are suffering for nothing because we cannot even have the mind to study and we cant concentrate. Please come to the school and access our results! Please hear us!
PROBLEMS GIRLS ARE FACING IN THE DORMITORY
Dear Sir/Madam,
we all know that serving God and worshiping Him is the sole duty of Christians. The Senior Housemistress who resides with us in the dormitory conducts devotion for about the 99.99 Christians at 4:00am everyday with the exception of Wednesday because we have morning worship in the school. But the Senior Housemistress, Madam Agnes Terkwor Amanor for some time developed a very hostile attitude towards the girls in the dormitory especially the form 3’s. She started insulting the form 3’s in the presence of the form 1’s and 2’s very early in the morning. She also prevented the form 3’s from punishing the juniors when they go wrong.
The Senior Housemistress is inhuman and has no pity for the girls. She does not listen to what the girls tell her, she does not listen to our grievance and problems. She tells us she does not have ears to hear our problems.
Madam Agnes Amanor closes the dormitory gate at all times even after normal classes is over i.e. at 2:30pm. This prevents the form 3’s from having extra classes and brings them down academically.
She also closes the taps and polytanks which prevent students from attending to nature’s call at night as we fetch water to flash the toilet.
She also accused a form 3 girls falsely in the dormitory without evidence. For example, she accused a form girl of stealing her sardine. She sells yoghurt, kelewele, pure water, bread after lights out. She also reared poultry in the house and let them loose in the morning. The hens and cocks defecate on our well-laid beds which give us double job, i.e. we have to wash our white bed sheets when they are not dirty but because the poultry defecated on them. This created a problem between the Senior Housemistress, Madam Agnes Terkwor Amanor and the Assistant Headmistress Domestic, Madam Halm Markins as the latter instructed her to get rid of the poultry but she refused. It was after persistent instructions that she later succumbed.
Madam Agnes Terkwor Amanor influences the teachers on campus to be against students. She sends away problems and discussions from the dormitory to the compound which we think is not the right thing a ‘mother’ should do.
With all these coming together, dear Sir/Madam, we tell you truly that we are not happy with the attitude of Madam Agnes Terkwor Amanor in the dormitory. In fact, we don’t like her. Our academic work is affected. We therefore demand her transfer. In addition we also want the following to be transferred as they are Madam Agnes accomplices:
Madam Agnes Dawutey
Madam Peace Kumah
Madam Comfort Teye.
ACADEMIC ISSUES
PROBLEM STUDENTS ARE FACING IN THE CLASSROOM
The Assistant Headmaster Academics dismisses the boarding girls when they organized after-school classes. Normal classes end at 2:30pm and the girls especially are warned not to organize any classes else they will have to wait outside the dormitory gate till 5:30pm. We are in distress and need help. We plead that you intervene on our behalf.
On the attitude of the Assistant Headmaster Academic, Mr. Agyemang Newton, how can we learn and achieve our dream results? We, the student body recommend his dismissal because we feel he is infringing on our right to learn.
The Adrianne Headmaster Academic does not encourage and motivate students to learn and achieve higher grades and this can be testified by the previous WASSCE results of the school.
Some of the teachers do not teach anything when they come to class. For example. They sometimes miss their class without reason and they will be found sitting idle in the staff room and under the trees. They act bias when they come to class i.e. they choose to teach only a group of people in the class i.e. Mr. Edem Atsoribo (Economics teacher) is okay when only 3 people understand what he says in class.
We the student body are not happy and academically sound because we are always threatened and cursed with failure in class by our teachers who are being paid by government to teach us.
We therefore recommend that these teachers be transferred from the school. E.g. Ms Evelyn Brako (Biology teacher).
Some of the teachers who sit under tress when they have class are:
Mr. Prosper Atidja
Mr. Justice Akor
Mr. Anaglate Emphson
Mr. Edem Atsoribo
The teachers who curse the students that they will fail include:
Mr. Emmanuenl Koranteng
Rev. Francis Adamsi (Chaplain)
Sir George (Ageorgia)
William Sackitey
Mr. Andrews Teye (Killerbean)
Mr. Isaac Koduah
Mr. Francis Agor (Obaadaben)
SOCIAL ISSUES
Some of the teachers engage in sexual relationships with the students and when students fail to accept their proposal, they (teachers) always find fault with them and find cause to punish them in class.
The students find it difficult to concentrate when these teachers come to class. For this fact that teachers are engaging in sexual relationship with students, these teachers hate to see the female students mingling with male students even at ordinary hours of the day. We are therefore confused as to whether we are in a mixed school or single sex school.
We the student body recommend that these teachers be sacked from the school so the students can have the peace of mind to study. We hope our grievances will be listened to.
GENERAL ISSUES
Most of the form 1 and 2 students have taken transfer and left the school because they cant bear the maltreatment they are receiving from the Senior Housemistress and teachers. Some are also planning to leave at the end of the term.
The form 3’s who have not yet reported to school and have heard about what is going on in the school have decided to wait till the time they are about to write WASSCE.
This is because they can’t stand the news they are receiving from their friends who have reported to school. This is also affecting them academically because they are missing classes and it is a loss to them as they have few months to write WASSCE.
We believe and know that if our grievances are attended to, these form 1’s and 2’s who have made up their minds to leave will have a second thoughts. And the form 3s who have not reported to school will report and start preparing for WASSCE.
Dear Sir/Madam, it will interest you to know that anybody who comes to help develop the school does not spend even a year in the school and is asked to leave the school because the indigenous and old teachers in the school who hate change want to remain in the same old state they are.
E.g. the former head teacher Mr. Stephen Aglah was asked to leave the school within a few month when his intensions of developing the school was made known. He had plan of developing the school by organizing classes among other things to help the students but because the teachers would lose the money they received from the students, they claimed they needed a Krobo man to help the school. These old teachers who have been in the school for years and have not help the always want the school to remain in the deteriorating state in which it is.
The assistant headmistress, Madam Nana Halm Markins who is not appreciated for the good works she did in the school has been transferred to a school in koforidua. It was only during the period of her stay here that a “HOME COMING” for old students was organised which past former student. The event brought joy to the past students as they see the school progressing academically.
However, all these progress halted since Mr. Stephen Aglah and Mrs. Halm Markin left the school. Madam Markin was a good mother, we all run to for advice whenever we have problems and she embraced us with consolation. The doors of her home were always opened to both boys and girls in the school.
She would get angry when a case of a sick student who has been rushed to the hospital and has not been reported to her. She would quickly prepare some food and take it to the student herself and ensure that the student gets better. Madam Dome as we affectionately call her was more than a nurse. She was protector and our refuge in the school because instead of over punishing us whenever we go wrong like the other teachers do, she would counsel us on how to refrain from such act.
The teachers knew she was a protector of the entire students and it’s evident because on the day of resumption, the school Chaplin made a comment which we feel is a threat to us.
He said on the 17th of January 2018 that “Now your protector is gone and you have no one to protect you”
We as students, we all know our first priority is to learn and pass our exams but some of the teachers in the school always preventing the third years from prepping effectively. Some of the teachers are also allegedly befriending our female students therefore they only teach on the surface without our understanding whenever they come to teach because they’ve want a means to meet the girls.
GENERAL CONCLUSION
With all the has been written, how can we, the future leaders be mistreated to this extent when we are supposed to be trained, guided and consoled.
Our parents are expecting a better results at the end of our stay in this school but with this, our results will continue to be abysmal as it has always be is GES does not take a step in solving our plight by transferring the listed names of teachers from the school.
This plea is not only from the present student by we believe it will also benefit those who may come after us in future.
Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/Kojo Ansah
