Eastern Regional SHSs identify ‘new magnet’ to attract government interventions

Correspondence from Eastern Region

There seems to be a new ‘magnet’ that can attract the government’s intervention faster which schools in the New Juaben South of the Eastern Region may have gotten access to.

Leaking or sharing videos on social media to highlight disheartening challenges in Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the New Juaben South Municipality is becoming the new craze in the

Read full article.quest to attract government’s attention to address the challenges with swiftness.

Some old students of some Senior High Schools in the New Juaben South Municipality have considered adopting video leaks that would drum home the challenges of their alma mater, to invite the government’s swift interventions.

This idea comes at the back of a recent video captured by an old student of the Koforidua Secondary Technical Senior High School (SECTECH) which went viral on social media and portrayed a pathetic challenge at the school.

The video surprisingly made a quick impact when the Ministry of Education speedily sent 700 beds to SECTECH in a matter of days.

Ghanaweb’s enquiries revealed that when the current Headmaster of Koforidua SECTECH, Mr. Ofori Antwi, took office in September 2020, he quickly compiled a comprehensive report on all the challenges confronting the school and forwarded same to the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) but his report never received any feedback.

However, when the video which showcased some dormitories having no beds and mattresses for the students to sleep on went viral, the Ministry of Education in a matter of hours mobilised a total 350 double-decker metal beds and 700 mattresses for the school.

This was because the video painted a gloomy image of the school and also dented the image of the government’s Free SHS policy.

Similarly, another video went viral on social media exposing the excruciating challenge students of the Oti Boateng SHS go through as they dine in the open weather on the school park due to lack of a dining hall.

An old student had visited the school on a rainy day only to meet the students having their dining session in the rain. On a sunny day, the students dine under the scorching sun.

While filming the sad situation, the old student vented his spleen whilst castigating the Paramount Chief of the New Juaben Traditional area, Daasebre Professor Oti Boateng, whose name the school bears for failing to use his high office to lobby projects for the school.

GhanaWeb’s information gathered indicated that immediately Daasebre Oti Boateng saw the viral video, he quickly made calls to key stakeholders to swiftly plan on how to fast-track the construction of the school’s dining hall which has remained at the foundation level since October 2019.

With this surprising development, Ghanaweb set out to interact with some old students of the SHSs in the New Juaben Municipality including the New Juaben SHS and Pope John SHS among others to ascertain the facts of the matter.

Some of the old students interviewed swore to also employ the video leak strategy and make it go viral to attract the government and appropriate authorities’ interventions since “that seems to be the language they understand.”

An old student of New Juaben SHS who spoke to GhanaWeb off-camera in Koforidua and pleaded anonymity, said currently, there are many serious challenges facing his alma mater, which have become worse due to the rollout of the government’s Free SHS programme.

According to him, the Free SHS has widened enrolment of more students into the school when in fact, the facilities in the school are so limited to meet the needs of the large number of students.

“Now if that is what they expect us to do, then they should watch out for more videos since that seems to be the language they understand.

“How can you have the means to help solve some of the challenges and yet you sit down and do nothing and act only when you see a video denigrating your policy?” he quizzed.

Meanwhile, even though the government has provided beds and mattresses to the students, GhanaWeb’s visit to the Koforidua SECTECH school dormitories, showed that the students are at the mercy of mosquitoes and bad weather since the nets on their windows are all worn out and destroyed.

According to the New Juaben South Municipal Director of Education, Mr. Victor de-Graft Etsison, it is undeniable that almost all the schools have challenges but the government was showing commitment towards addressing those challenges.

He called on parents and other stakeholders including old students to augment the government’s efforts and solve some of the problems facing the schools.