Students’ unrest is increasingly becoming a common phenomenon in Ghana. Though many resolution mechanisms are being adopted by school authorities to remedy the situation, it still continues to occur as little efforts are done to stop it completely.
Last week, it was reported that students of Krobea Asante Technical and Vocational Institute demonstrated over poor examination results. The students vandalised vehicles, smashed windscreens, destroyed school properties and assaulted some of their teachers.
As a result, the Ashanti Regional Security Council (AREGSEC) ordered the closure of the school.
The Ashanti Region Minister, who is also Chairman of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), Simon Osei-Mensah, has given the assurance that a five-member committee would be set up to untangle the circumstances that led to the demonstration at the institute. The Regional Minister says causes and cost of the vandalism would be established by the committee. Forty students have been arrested for the rampage and are in police custody to assist in investigations.
According to the Ashanti Regional Ghana Education Service (GES) Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mark Ofori, the students allegedly embarked on the demonstration, because their performance in the previous West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) was horrible. The situation was so dire that the teachers and police officers had to mount a barrier to look out for some of the students who were fleeing campus.
The students, under no circumstance, should take the law into their own hands to destroy school properties. Students need to put much effort in their academic pursuit, and are supposed to be blamed for their poor performance in examinations.
The Chronicle describes the students’ actions as a show of disrespect for authority. We urge the police to ensure that other students involved in the act are arrested and made to face the full rigors of the law.
We at The Chronicle are happy the police have decided not to take the disturbances lightly, but are going to look into it. We will urge the police to get to the bottom of this. They should not just leave it hanging. It is high time some of these recalcitrant students are made to pay the price of insubordination.
