Agony Of Unregistered Pupils

Reports of the failure of school officials to register students for the various examinations are fast becoming an annual affair which must be deplored unreservedly and vehemently.

Eleven students of a private school at Nungua, near Accra, cannot write the forthcoming Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) because some school officials have made use of the money without registering them.

It is the aspiration of parents to help their children to go to school to acquire knowledge and skills. That is the only way which will make them more useful to society by contributing to national development and earning a living for themselves.

However, the whole venture turns awry when school authorities or teachers fail to register the pupils for their final examination and misappropriate the fees.

It is difficult to understand why so-called educationists who claim honour and integrity toy with the future of their pupils with impunity.

What is beyond our comprehension is the fact that the officer concerned in this particular case never thought that his diabolical plan would be exposed, forgetting that the examination was just around the corner.

We do not know how many school officials have been involved in such scandals across the country. However, parents and all those who are entrusted with the welfare of students must be concerned about such mischievous practices.

Perhaps the time has come for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to devise a means which will enable parents to be deeply involved in the registration of students for WAEC-organised examinations.

Parents must also be on the alert and take a keen interest in the registration of their children.

Equally, it is important that heads of schools take an active interest in the welfare of their pupils and students during the registration process. They need to be proactive to ward off such irresponsible behaviour.

Apart from their schools destroying the future of the students who are victims of the situation, they themselves and the institutions may suffer irreparable damage.

Perhaps it may be necessary for the Ghana Education Service (GES) to sanction the offending schools. It is the surest way to make school authorities to take the registration exercise seriously.

As a nation, we have come a long way. Therefore, those in positions of trust must be careful about what they do, so that their actions and inaction do not block the progress of others, especially children.

Fraud is like a cork — no matter how deep it is submerged in water, it will pop up one day.

We should stand up against such reprehensible practices which snuff out the hope of our students.