Suspend Headmaster - AMOSA

Accra, June 23, GNA - The Aggrey Memorial Old Students Association (AMOSA) on Thursday called for the suspension of the Headmaster of the School as a first step in resolving the problems of the institution. The Association also called for the dissolution of the School's Board of Governors and the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), which it considered were part of the numerous problems.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra, Mr Kow Hayward Yaidoo, President of AMOSA, said the School was overpopulated with a current population of 3,200, instead of the 1,600 students recommended intake by the Ghana Education Service (GES). Mr Yaidoo said the high student population was affecting academic work and health of the students and that though various concerns had been raised by the Association through the Central Regional Directorate of GES to persuade the Headmaster to reduce the intake, the situation kept worsening each academic year. He said the situation had led to overcrowding in the dormitories, compelling the majority of the students to sleep on the ground in the classrooms and in the open, a condition which he said, could encourage the growing menace of lesbianism and homosexuality, apart from the unsanitary condition of lavatories.

Mr Yaidoo stated that as a result of the high intake, academic performance in the school had fallen, saying, that 65 per cent of the candidates failed in Core English and 61 per cent in Core Mathematics during the July 2005 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. "This is completely unacceptable, AMOSANS will not and cannot accept that their dear and once Alma Mater be mismanaged and reduced to this level in this modern age", he said. He attributed the bad press that the School had had over the years to the high intake, which he said, made it difficult for staff to maintain discipline. The AMOSA President explained that various interventions by the Association to resolve the problem had failed, due to lack of cooperation from the Headmaster, Parent Teacher Association and Board of Governors. He said the Majority of the Board Members had retained their positions for decades, whiles some of the PTA Executives, were not parents to any child in the school.

When the Cape Coast Office of the GNA contacted the Reverend Dr Godfried Zormelo, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the School, he denied that the school was overcrowded with some students sleeping on the floor. He said the School had 93unused beds, which are currently being kept in the Headmaster's garage=94. With regard to accusations of the student intake of 3,200 instead of 1,600, he said following the adoption of the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) the GES allocated 1,000 students to School and that the School Authorities had no hand in their admission.

On the allegation that the large number of students was affecting academic work, Rev. Dr Zormelo, who is also the Senior Bishop's Deputy of the A.M.E Zion Church in West Africa, denied them. He explained that academic work at the School was adversely affected last year when members of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) went on strike. He said the School presented about 700 candidates compared to other schools that had just 300 candidates and that if between 500 and 600 candidates from the School scored pass marks that could not be described as bad since about 30 per cent of the students came from the surrounding rural communities.

On the accusations that majority of the Board Members had been in office for decades, Rev. Dr. Zormelo explained that as a Mission School, he was automatically the Chairman of the Board, as the Bishop's representatives. Giving a breakdown of the Board's membership, he said the Regional Director of Education; PTA; AMOSA and the Municipal Director of Education had one representative each on the Board, on which, he said, other members could be co-opted to serve.

Rev Dr Zormelo, who said he has been the chairman for eight or nine years, explained that the members of the Board could serve three two-year terms, but said upon recommendations by the Church and the School to the GES, hardworking Board members could be retained. He also denied that some of the PTA Executives did not even have children in the school, and said a PTA Executive needed not necessarily to have a child in the school though that might be desirable. The Board Chairman commended the PTA Executives for their hard work and for initiating projects like the construction of an additional three-storey dormitory block at a cost of 5.5 billion cedis, which is slated for completion in September 2006, to house 602 girls.

Other projects, he said, were the construction of an 18-unit classroom block; an infirmary and a library, which projects, were being undertaken without any support from AMOSA. He said although it was the practice of old students of some schools to sponsor their alma mater's speech days, the AMOSA had only done this twice and the funding of such occasions was mostly borne by the Church and the PTA. He expressed concern about the step being taken by the AMOSA and about their calls for the suspension of the Headmaster and said AMOSA was against the Headmaster, because of their failure to get their own man appointed so that they could "get free access to the School at anytime". Rev Dr Zormelo said the Headmaster had restricted members of AMOSA, with regard to their activities in the school because two years ago, some old boys who were allowed to sleep in the school messed up some of the male students.

The Board Chairman said AMOSA could come to the Board if it had any problems and denied that it had made earlier representations to the Regional Directorate of Education. Mr Ernest Browne, the representative of the Regional Director of Education on the Board, told the GNA that he was not aware that the AMOSA had made their grievances known to his outfit. He said he was informed by the Regional Director that a representative of the AMOSA had called once, indicating that the Association wanted to meet her about some grievances, but they never showed up. When the GNA contacted the Headmaster, Mr Kwasi Appiah Dankwa, he said he would need time to answer the catalogue of allegations one after the other.