SUTESCO headmistress locks out students for reporting late
For reporting late, some final year students of the Suhum Senior High and Technical School (SUTESCO) in the Eastern Region were locked outside of their school gate.
The students reported after 5:00 PM on the day of reopening, after government shut down public schools in March due to the outbreak of coronavirus in Ghana.
Most of the students had returned to the school from different regions across the country.
Accra-based Okay FM reported that some of the students had reported before 5:00 PM but were directed to go and crop their bushy hair.
When they returned from the barber, they were deemed late and prevented from entering the premises.
“I came here 4:30 PM they asked me to barber my hair and returned 5:10 PM but they disallowed my entry. It is almost 8:00 PM I am still stranded here I can’t go back. The gateman says we should go and sleep at a guesthouse but I don’t have money for that,” a student told the media.
Another student said “We came here few minutes after five they asked us to barber our hair, we joined a queue at the barbering shop after we were done and returned to the school. They said they will not allow us to enter.”
A female student said “I am from Kasoa, but when I got here they didn’t write my details. All that they said is that I should go and barber my hair but upon my return, the gateman said it is passed 5:00 PM so the headmistress says he should not allow anyone to enter. I don’t know where to sleep”.
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Some of the students left the entrance of the school to find various hotels and guest houses to pass the night while others remained at the entrance of the school begging to be allowed.
According to Okay FM, some of the students said they did not have money to pay for hotel fees to spend the night.
The Accra based radio station’s Eastern Regional correspondent, Michael Akrofi reported that the headmistress of the school later in the night ordered the security man to open the gate for the children.
This was after the intervention of the Regional Education Director.
He added that some staff of the school and the security man attacked him after he attempted recording the scene.
Schools Reopening
President Akufo-Addo announced the reopening of schools for final year students at all levels of education across the country.
Final year students in second-cycle institutions as well as the gold track second-year students were to report to campus on June 22, 2020.
According to him, the move was to allow the students to prepare adequately for their final examinations.
In his 10th Address to the nation on measures taken by the government to ease restrictions, president Akufo-Addo said all other levels of education will remain closed to students.
As part of measures to ensure the various campuses were free from the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, the president said over 600,000 face masks were to be distributed to the students in tertiary institutions and second-cycle institutions.
Additionally, Veronica buckets, hand sanitizers, thermometer guns among others were also distributed to the various campuses to ensure the safety of all final year students who had returned to school.