Tamale: "Please forgive us, we erred" — Students beg principal after wrongfully accusing him of 'chop chop'

Students of the Tamale College of Education (TACE) have asked the Principal of the college Dr. Sulemana Iddrisu and the management to forgive them their sins for wrongfully accusing him and the institution of spending their feeding component of the student allowance.

Usually, student-teachers during their training at the colleges of education are paid monthly allowance of four hundred Ghana cedis (Ghc400.00) to cushion them to stay and learn well on campus.

Out of this amount, four cedis (Ghc4.00) is paid to the Teacher Trainees' Association of Ghana (TTAG) whilst one hundred and ninety-six cedis (Ghc196.00) is paid to the management of the colleges as feeding fees for the students.

However, during the mandatory Teaching Practice popularly known as Out-Campus, an exercise done by every teacher trainee in colleges of education, students stay outside campus and end up feeding themselves.

The practice has been that the GHS196.00 that are usually paid to the colleges of education to feed the students are refunded to them when they are done with their Teaching Practice since the schools are no longer responsible for their feeding whilst they are doing their Out-Campus service.

The case was however not the same for the 2022-year batch who finished their Out-Campus Practice in September 2022, after spending four months in their various schools of placement which ignited anger among the student populace.

The students became even more angry when management of the institution announced the date and fees for their graduation without refunding the monies.

Some of them, in addition to open and verbal insults directed at the Principal and his management, went further to publish articles on both social and traditional media on May 18, 2023, accusing the principal (Dr. Sulemana) and the management of denying them their monies.

They also threatened to abandon the graduation ceremony which has been scheduled for June 17, 2023 should management fail to refund the monies.

In response, the College indicated that processes leading to the repayment of the monies were at the final stage. It added that by Friday May 26, 2023, the students, numbering over 500 should visit the college accounts department after applying for the refund for payment to be effected.

After receiving the refund, the students led by their Students Representative Council (SRC), apologized to the Principal and the management for their lack of patience and due process.

In a letter to the Principal dated Monday May 29, 2023 signed by the SRC President for the 2022 year batch and copied the Vice Principal, the Deen of Students and the Bursar, the students said "With the greatest of regrets, we write on behalf of the entire 2022 year group to render an unreserved apology over the false and baseless publication made against you and your personality on 18th of May, 2023 in Ghanaweb. We take exceptions to condemn such nuisance. It was really unfortunate."

They added that "On behalf of the entire 2022-year batch of students, we apologize to you, and the entire staff of the college for whatsoever bad image such publication might have caused the college.

"We sincerely appreciate the role you played during our time in school as teacher trainees. You demonstrated to us that you are not only a principal but a father, a guardian, a mentor, a motivator and a role model we could trust and rely on. And so, it is rather unfortunate that such baseless accusation was made against your personality by some unscrupulous personalities."

Read the full apology below:
LETTER OF APOLOGY
With the greatest of regrets, we write on behalf of the entire 2022-year group to render an unreserved apology over the false and baseless publication made against you and your personality on 18th of May 2023 in Ghanaweb. We take exceptions to condemn such nuisance. It was really unfortunate!

We sincerely appreciate the role you played during our time in school as teacher trainees. You demonstrated to us that you are not only a principal but a father, a guardian, a mentor, a motivator and a role model we could trust and rely on. And so it is rather unfortunate that such baseless accusation was made against your personality by some unscrupulous personalities.

On behalf of the entire 2022-year batch of students, we apologize to you, and the entire staff of the college for whatsoever bad image such publication might have caused the college. We pledge that a counter publication will be made through that same medium to express how regrettable the publication was and setting the records straight.

It is deeply regrettable!
Yours Sincerely,
Tahiru Mohammed Murtala.
(For the 2022 Year Group)
Cc.
Office of the Vice Principal
The College Bursa
Office of the Dean of Students Affairs