Commotion in Agona Schools over de-worming exercise

Agona Asafo (C/R), Feb. 14, GNA - The early intervention of police personnel on Monday helped to avert a possible clash between parents and teachers in schools in Agona Asafo over the National De-worming Exercise.

Parents rushed to the schools when it was alleged that some pupils had died after taking the de-wormer.

Miss Lucy Ama Ankrah, Headmistress of the District Assembly Junior Secondary School speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Agona Asafo said parents, most of them traders at the Mandela Market at Agona Swedru invaded the school in charted buses and started raining insults on the teachers for accepting to administer the drug on the pupils when they were not trained for it.

The Headmistress said most of the women came with bottles of palm oil which they gave to their children to drink with the hope that it would defuse the "poison" in the drug.

Miss Ankrah said only three out of 110 pupils in the school did not take the drug.

She said a parent of one of those who did not take the drug protested that the Faith Church to which they belonged did not permit taking such drugs.

The other two were exempted on health grounds. Miss Philomena Minah, a teacher of the school who confirmed the story commended the pupils for the matured manner they comported themselves during the confusion.

They showed sympathy for the teachers and expressed their solidarity with them.

Miss Agnes Baffoe a staff midwife at Asafo Clinic said because of the parents' behaviour, the clinic staff visited all the schools in the town to find out whether the drug had had any adverse effect on any of the children, but there was nothing detected.