A failed attempt by unknown person to burn Boahen Korkor Presby JHS

Correspondence from Bono Region

The Boahen Korkor Presby Junior High School in Sunyani on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, was nearly set ablaze by an unknown person.

This school, which is situated at the premises of the Presbyterian Church, which is directly opposite the Radio BAR, is amongst a cluster of schools on the same compound.

Information gathered revealed that, this unfortunate act occurred at the JHS 1A class, which is in a four-unit classroom block; were their colleagues at JHS 1B as well as those at Presby JHS 2A and 2B.

A visit by Ghanaweb to the school saw a table and a chair that was burnt in the act. These table and chair have been subsequently kept in front of the classroom under a tree.

Speaking to Ghanaweb, Rev. Ernestina Baah, the headmistress of the Boahen Korkor Junior High School, confirmed this incident and added that she has since informed the Municipal Education Directorate for the necessary action to be taken.

The headmistress stated that ''I have been directed by the Municipal Education Directorate to formally write a report on it''. Rev. Ernestina Baah was not happy about what might have been a disaster to the school and the church.

''Though we have walls around the school, we continue to experience a number of theft in the school and this led the Parent-Teacher Association of the school to employ security guards who run on shift - morning and evening''.

''The first people I contacted after this incident were the security guards who were supposed to be on duty at night''. Rev. Ernestina Baah added that, per her initial information, the security guard who was on duty that night was not well and could not report to duty that day.

A section of the teachers expressed concern on how consistently, some people invade the school even during class hours. According to some of the witnesses, all the tables and the chairs in the classroom, JHS 1A, were gathered in front of the blackboard with a car tyre to set them ablaze.

Mr Asare Baffour, one of the teachers, who was worried about this incident, disclosed that ''similar incident had happened at the Penkwase Urban Council Primary School three weeks ago where all the books of the pupils were destroyed and the tables and chairs burnt into ashes''.

Mr Asare Baffour stated that they were not safe in the school as some people use their campus for all sort of social vices and appealed to the Municipal Police Petrol Team, to assist them at night to augment the private security forces that have been put in place by the school.

Three pupils of the school who spoke to Ghanaweb narrated how they often come to school to see their books scattered and their tables misplaced. They appealed to the community, to assist the school authority to protect the school.