A teacher at the Christian Methodist Senior High School in Accra, Walter Yesutor Adanunyo, has given details of a harrowing experience of being attacked by students for not allowing them to cheat during their West African Senior School Certificate Education (WASSCE) exams.
He narrated the incident to GhanaWeb’s Ishmael Batoma on #SayItLoud.
According to him, the incident began on Monday, September 16, 2024, when Visual Arts students finished their integrated science paper.
After the exam, some students laid an ambush outside the school, intending to attack the teachers.
“One of the students heard about it and she came back to the school to warn us that ‘there are a number of students outside, they want to attack you.’ So we asked her, ‘Why would they want to attack?’ And she said, ‘Sir, you didn't allow them to cheat in the WASSCE. That is your crime.’ I thought she was joking. But my colleague alerted me that students can do that,” he said.
Walter, along with his head of department, sought help from local area boys who often used the school's pitch for football.
The area boys, in turn, helped to call the headmaster, who then contacted the police.
“The moment the police came, they started running. So they, the police drove them out of the school. So at that particular time, the area boys also told us, ‘Okay, so let's move.’ So they were escorting us, they were around us and we were in the middle. They escorted us little by little until we got to the junction where we could pick our car,” he said.
However, the next day, the students returned in school uniforms, despite not having any exams, to lay another ambush.
The area boys once again escorted the teachers, but the students threw water sachets and later stones at them. The area boys chased the students away, leaving the teachers alone.
“While they were running after the students, I told my HoD and the other teacher that, oh, now the focus is not on us. So let's hurry up and leave the place. So we hurried up and then halfway through the journey we saw that there was another ambush waiting for us, we couldn't go back because the other squad were also using the other path. So that is where we stood,” he said.
Amid efforts by passers-by and the other teachers the de-escalate the situation, the infuriated students assaulted Walter, beating him mercilessly.
“They were about 30. They outnumbered the other four teachers, excluding me and they hit me with their fists, one with the elbow, and others with stones."
Luckily for him, a man in the area, who was eating in his shop, intervened and shielded the teacher, taking him to his shop for safety.
Walter eventually managed to leave the area with the help of the residents and his friends, who ensured he got into a car safely.
Despite the ordeal, Walter expressed gratitude for the assistance he received from the local community.
Currently, no criminal proceedings have been initiated, and the case has not yet gone to court.
See the full video below:
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