Students of the Bosomtwe Oyoko Community Senior High School (SHS) in the Bosomtwe district of the Ashanti region are going through hell in their quest to acquire secondary education. Unlike their peers in the well-endowed schools who are enjoying Free SHS, same cannot be said about the above mentioned school.
The Chronicle has established that students of the school, which was originally a day school, but has been turned into a boarding school, are compelled to pay GHS5 every day as feeding fee, though the food served the students are not good.
When this reporter visited the school recently, he discovered that some of the classrooms have been turned into dormitories and students are made to fork out GHC 780.00. Students who are unable to pay the fees are turned into day students.
Despite paying the GHC 780.00 to secure accommodation on campus, the building is begging for painting, with almost all the louver blades damaged.
The development has compelled students to use their bed sheets as curtains. The kitchen, bathrooms and place of convenience are also not in good condition.
Since 2017, GES have been placing students from as far as Tamale, Accra, Koforidua and other areas in the school, but the same GES ordered closure of the boarding facility, an order which was reportedly ignored.
Speaking to some of the boarding students, they confided in The Chronicle that they are paying GHS 780.00 for accommodation.
A form two female student (name withheld) disclosed to this paper that she was asked to leave the boarding house because her parents could not pay the required fee.
Another female student also expressed worry over lack of fence wall around the school and that they are exposed to danger.
A form two male student appealed to Dr. Yaw Adutwum, Minister for Education to come to their aid, since they are sleeping in classrooms. “Our bathhouse has been demarcated by roofing sheets and this is not good.”
The fourth student, who granted an interview to this paper on condition of anonymity, bemoaned that since the school is a new one, they do not have a science laboratory, a development he indicated has made the study of science very difficult.
The assistant headmaster of the school, Mr Kwasi Oppong, declined to speak on the issue when he was approached, saying heads of schools are not supposed to engage the media.
Madam Lucy Yaa Acheampomaa, the Caterer of the school, who has been accused of benefiting from the boarding facility being run by the school, denied being directly involved in the collection of feeding and accommodation fees, when this reporter contacted her.
She directed this reporter to contact the headmaster of the school, since she was not in charge of the school. She also told the paper that she has been contracted by the government to provide one hot meal for the students.
“When they came, I realised that some of the students came from far, so they were compelled to turn classrooms into dormitories.”
Asked about amount of money charged per student for food and accommodation per a term, Acheampomaa could not quote a figure because she is not part of the decision makers.
According to Acheampomaa, the provision of food was agreed by the Parent Teachers Association (PTA). She added: “I have even incurred losses in my quest to provide food to these students.”
Reached on phone, Mr Michael Ofori, the Ashanti regional Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ghana Education Service, admitted that there is a problem in Oyoko SHS.
Whilst Ofori acknowledged that the GES has ordered the said school to cease operating boarding facility, he told The Chronicle that the antecedents in the school are dicey and that he cannot respond to questions posed by this paper.
