After revealing the rot at Mfantseman Secondary School, the Ghanaian Chronicle turned the searchlight on another school in the Central Region, Apam Secondary School, where another 'strong' woman, Mrs. Esther Hamilton, is plaguing the school with serious mess and creating tension among the members of staff.
Investigations carried out by the paper established that even though a five-man delegation from the inspectorates division of the Ministry of Education undertook a three-week inspection of the school last term and made very disturbing findings the documents still remain secret state assets as none of the staff members have any idea of the reports, neither have any of the recommendations been carried out.
Furthermore, it is believed the Headmistress has very powerful political patrons who are always ready to defend her when necessary.
A letter indicating her transfer from Apam to Amasaman, signed by the Deputy Director-General was withdrawn as quickly as it came.
Surprisingly, the withdrawal letter was signed by the Deputy Director-General of education with no apparent reason.
"It was for security reasons' was the only explanation the headmistress could give when interviewed by the Chronicle onTuesday this week..
She also added they might have confused her with the Mfantiman Headmistress ,Mrs. Croffy.
Chronicle gathered that Mrs. Hamilton has become an authority unto herself , flouting GES rules with imparity.
For instance, she has just released two teachers from the school five weeks into the academic year, which is against a GES circular referenced.
GES/CR/356/WC.28/127.
Later when the released teachers tried to seek audience with the Regional Director, Mrs. Osei, she drove them out of her office.
Chronicle gathered that these releases have become the weapons the Headmistress uses against anyone who attempts to stand up and insist that the proper things are done in the school.
Intimidation, harassment, and withholding of staff salaries are the other weapons. About 20 or more members of staff have either left or been chased out of the school within 3 years.
Thus more than 50% of the teachers are less than 5 years old in the school.
Such rapid change of staff, experts say, is not good for proper teaching, for improved standards.
Chronicle also learnt that the Headmistress also owns two schools; Light of the World school complex, Weija, and Star of the East, Taifa, and she spends more time in these schools than she does in Apam Secondary School..
Investigations in the school reveal that Mrs. Hamilton's divide and rule tactics has polarised the staff into two camps, breeding a greet deal of mutual suspicion and tension which often degenerate into open quarrels among the staff.
Staff members who sing 'the Hamilton song' are protected even when they fall foul of the rules but those on the other side are treated with contempt and disdain for similar offences.
A visit to the school shows it is in a very deplorable state and can be equated to the biblical white-washed sepulchre - it is beautifully painted on the outside but the story is different when you take a tour of the whole school.
The painting was undertaken with a levy of ?10,000 per student, even though the headmistress claims it was sponsored by Hon. Adjei Mensah.
The sickbay is without mattresses and sick students carry mattress anytime they visit the place. The windows are without louver blades nor mosquito nets.
Adjacent to the sickbay the sewage system popularly known as sunset beach breeds mosquitoes in their thousands and the stench from the place is very injurious to the health of students.
The facilities in the school are over-stretched due to excess intake. There are only two KVIPs and one bucket toilet for use by over one thousand girls.
In some houses students have to keep their trucks and chop-boxes on the verandah to make available more sleeping space.
Chronicle gathered that Mrs. Hamilton runs this school like her personal property. She is the domestic bursar as well as the contractor of the school. She single-handedly does all the purchasing or asks her personal driver and messenger to do so.
"They re the people I can trust" was what she could say when interviewed by this reporter. She was the contractor in the construction of the new girls dormitory without any authorisation. School artisans were used for the construction and experts advise sought as and when necessary.
Aside of the levy of ?30,000 per student, students had to supply the builders with water on constant basis.
The contract was initially awarded to Mr. Kwabena Mensah, the ex-bursar of the school, but was terminated after he had demolished the old structure and put up the profile for the new building.
The Headmistress recently converted a chop-box room in house 9 into a dormitory and all who benefited had to pay a whooping ?1.2 million excluding the cost of a bed and desk.
When Chronicle spoke to her on this issue the Headmistress said she was authorized by the PTA to undertake the construction but was not prepared to comment on why Mr. Kwabena Mensah's contract was terminated.
The school kitchen has been without LPG Gas for almost one and half years.
The kitchen women rely on firewood to do the cooking and when there is no firewood they resort to broken down furniture.
The gas plant is overgrown with weeds with fungi all over the cylinder.
When Chronicle spoke to the minister of education he said he was not aware of most of the things being mentioned and that he was going to investigate the issue and take corrective measures.
He further stated that he was not in the country when the letter revoking the transfer of Mrs. Esther Hamilton was written but on his return he was told by the acting Director General that it was an order from the National Security.
The acting director general was, however, not available to comment on the issue.
