GES Secretly Reinstates WASS Headmistress

…But fails to publish fact-finding report

The headmistress of the West Africa Senior High School (WASS), in Accra, who was interdicted in July, this year, by the management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) over alleged collection of unauthorized fees from students, has been clandestinely reinstated.

Dr. Mrs. Shine Agatha Ofori was asked to go back to her post, where she silently resumed work last Friday, October 27, on the blind side of the public, without any official statement from the GES.

But many have questioned the whereabouts of the fact-finding report that exonerated the headmistress, after the determination of the case by the Regional Disciplinary Committee.

Some have also said that, failure by the GES to make the report public, given the public interest in the issue generated at the time, would mean a confirmation of the intimidation tactics the service is often accused of meting out to teachers and school heads who are not in the good books of the management of the GES.

They insist, publishing the report would help redeem the damage caused by the allegation to the reputation and integrity of the headmistress.

The WASS headmistress was asked to hand over the administration of the school to the Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, pending final determination of the case by the Regional Disciplinary Committee.

The issue was made public in a statement dated July 19, 2023, signed by Cassandra Twum Ampofo, the head of the Public Relations Unit at the GES.

 GES pursues JHS ‘1&2’ students

The reinstatement of the headmistress comes following recent reports that the GES is on the heels of some Junior High School (JHS) Form 1 and Form 2 students who skipped class to write the just-ended Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in August, this year.

The service has apparently initiated processes to fish out all these JHS students to ostensibly punish them, though the practice of taking the exams at the first chance is not anything new.

In a letter, sighted by The Anchor, dated Monday, October 16, 2023, the GES directed all school heads in both the public and private schools to make available the names and academic records of these students.

“Management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) requests for the submission of names of absentees of Junior High School (public and private) Form One and Form Two (JHS &JHS2) students of 2022/2023 academic year from 7th to 11th August, 2023.

“Heads of Junior High Schools are directed to submit the names of JHS1 and JHS2 students who were absent from school from 7th to 11th August, 2023 of the 2022/2023 academic year to be accompanied by their class attendance registers for verification, their respective Metro/Municipal/District Directors of Education.

“Metro/ Municipal/ District Directors of Education are to compile and submit the names of students to the Director-General through their respective Regional Directors of Education by close of work on Wednesday, 18th October, 2023,” the statement, signed by Mr. Prince C. Agyemang-Duah, the Acting Director, Schools and Instructions Division, on behalf of the Director-General of the GES Dr. Eric Nkansah, said.

Additional information gathered from graphiconline also indicated that the GES also wants the record of attendance of all JHS 2 students in the 2021/2022 academic school year.

By this, this paper is learning the GES is tracking the 2021/2022 academic year’s attendance of the students who were involved in the examination two months ago.

Apparently, the statement, a copy of which is available to The Anchor, is sending shivers down the spines of these students.

They are surprised this is coming up, because it is something that has been going on for years and cannot understand why they would be victimized or be used as scapegoats.

In the past, many have written this examination and gotten admission to Senior High School (SHS) without waiting to write the BECE with their classmates.

The statement from the GES instructed that the data be submitted through the following email address: schoolsandinstructions@ges.gov.gh or WhatsApp number 0244981006.

It further instructed that regional directors communicate the above information to the various directors of education at the Metro, Municipal and District to inform all heads of JHSs to do the needful.

“By this letter, Regional Directors are kindly requested to communicate this information to the Metro/Municipal/District Directors of Education to inform all Heads of Junior High Schools and ensure that the data is submitted within the stipulated deadline,” the statement concluded.

Source: Anchorghana.com