Final year students of Tweneboa Kodua SSS boycott classes

Kumawu (Ash), June 6, GNA - Final year students of Tweneboa Kodua Secondary School at Kumawu in the Sekyere East district of Ashanti have staged a boycott of classes and school gatherings.

They have also refused to write their mock examination, Mr Jasper Kwasi Ahovey, Headmaster of the school, told a meeting of the Old Students Association at Kumawu on Saturday.

Speaking at the meeting with the management of the school to discuss problems bedevilling the school and how to find solutions to them, the headmaster decried the unruly behaviour of the final year students.

He blamed the problems of the school, including its poor performance at the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE), on the quality of students it had been forced by its peculiar circumstances to admit.

Mr Ahovey said under the policy, where schools were required to offer 30 percent of admission to students from the peripheral or catchment area, "we are compelled to admit mediocre students with the best among them coming with aggregates as poor as 28".

The headmaster said the school administration had taken a firm decision to withdraw any first year student who is unable to make the mark during the third term examination.

Promotion from SSS two to three will also be based strictly on credit and conduct, he added.

Mr Isaiah Opoku-Boateng, the Sekyere East District Chief Executive, admonished heads of SSS to act without fear to enforce discipline and stamp out deviant behaviour among students.

He pointed out that it was only by doing this that high academic performance of the schools could be assured.

The DCE said it was totally unacceptable for students to be allowed to live outside school rules and regulations, adding "this must never be encouraged".

Mr Opoku-Boateng announced a decision by the assembly to engage an inspector of schools to work in close partnership with the inspectorate division of the district education directorate to strengthen monitoring and supervision of schools in the area.

The assembly, he said, was also dialoguing with the headmasters of SSS to control visits to the schools by friends and relatives of students.

Mr Daniel Sekyere-Marfo, President of the Greater Accra branch of the association, suggested that special attention should be given to specific students with poor foundation by the tutors.

He was hopeful that with strong leadership, unity of purpose and co-operation among the teaching staff as well as rigid enforcement of the school's code of conduct, it could recapture its past glory as one of the leading second cycle institution in the country.

Mr Charles Boakye, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Governors, praised the association and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumawu, Mr Yaw Baah, for their immense role towards the progress of the school. Members of the association later met the final year students and counselled them to develop the natural will to succeed.

Mr Richard Owusu-Afriyie, the National President, told them that the past students have taken it upon themselves to provide the school with the relevant learning materials and that it was up to them to do their bit by studying hard.

He reminded them that they could not achieve progress if they do not work hard and are not disciplined.