Former students of 'YASS' petition Otumfuo…For removal of headmistress

THE YAA Asantewaa Old Girls Association has called for the immediate removal of the headmistress, Mrs. Elizabeth Malik Jabir for what the association calls poor management and maladministration of their alma mater.

The “Old Girls” have petitioned the Asantehene, His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to use his royal offices to ensure that the school does not deteriorate further, “due to poor management and maladministration of the current headmistress, Mrs. Elisabeth Malik Jabir”.

Worried about the bad press the school has attracted of late, the “old girls” think the royal assistance in removing the headmistress would help restore the already dented image of the school to enable it attain academic laurels as previously.

The petition, dated September 18, 2009, and jointly signed by Mrs. Janet Owusu Afriyie (President), Miss Rose Bonnah (Vice President), Mrs. Mrs. Martha Poku (Past President) and Mrs. Philomena Okyere (Secretary), comes as a result of the inability of the Metro Director of Education, Mrs. Gladys Amaning to address grievances brought to her attention for redress in February, this year.

According to the petitioners, the headmistress' removal is the only way Yaa Asantewaa Girls Senior High School would be brought to the desired level, both academically and morally, as it prevailed before Mrs. Malik Jabir took over in 2005.

Their concerns are bordered on the deterioration of academic standards of their alma mater which trend they say, should not be allowed to continue.

They cited as evidence of the basis for the call, the abysmal performance in the 2008 WASSCE results in which 67 regular students out of 527 candidates got A1 in Core Mathematics, 33 of 527 got A1 in Elective Mathematics with only one student out of 527 getting A1.

The petitioners also made a case out of the alleged sexual relations of the headmistress' sons in January this year with students of the school and also referred to the circumstance which led to the amputation of a student, Mary Kessie's leg following stringent measures on Exeat by the housemistress, Miss Vivian Boakye Tandoh and called for her immediate transfer from the school.

In February this year, the Old Girls Association of the school called for the replacement

of the headmistress, citing inefficiency, mismanagement and misapplication of school resources both human ands material. They said their position was to prevent the school from returning to bad days when the school was regarded as one of the worst schools in the country.

They said she (headmistress) is disgracing them (Old Girls), by bringing the clock of progress backwards and defying efforts of the Board of Directors to correct her to do the right thing.

The “Old girls” have, in protest against her, continued stay at post, also abandoned a Clinic project they had laid a foundation for the school and stopped attending the school's functions, besides a vow never to be part of the school's 50th anniversary.

Meanwhile, the final report by a five-member Committee appointed by the Director General of Ghana Education Service (GES) at the instance of the President following a petition last June, has been submitted since August 17, 2009.

The 15-page report has also been forwarded to the Ashanti Regional Director of Education for the implementation of the recommendations.

The Committee, chaired by Mr. Anthony Boateng of the GES Council, was tasked to investigate, among others, the remote and immediate causes that led to the breakdown of moral, academic and administrative functions and discipline in Yaa Asantewaa Girl's Senior High School, the truth or otherwise of allegations of sexual escapades of some female students in the school and to recommend sanctions and corrective measures to reverse the unhealthy developments in the school. (Details soon).