The Obuasi East District Education Directorate has indicated that the Odumase M/A Junior High School faces imminent closure as teachers have refused to return to classrooms after an attack.
Teachers withdrew their services last Friday after community members attacked them for punishing a JHS 3 pupil.
The student is reported to have gathered the community members after being disciplined for misconduct by one of the teachers.
Providing an update on the incident, the District Education Director, Kwabena Owusu Nketia said he is hopeful that the teachers would resume duty on Wednesday.
He added that engagements would continue with stakeholders within the community to ensure that the incident does not reoccur.
“I can tell you that latest by Wednesday, the teachers will go back to school. I have already spoken with them, the school has not closed down, and the teachers have not been going to school because of fear of attack. On Monday, I went there together with the District Chief Executive Officer to see the Assemblyman, queen mother, and we have planned to engage the community on this issue by Tuesday. I’m very optimistic that after the engagement, the teachers will be ready to back to the school,” he expressed hope.
He has admonished the public to stop attacking teachers for “correcting” students since teachers play a crucial role in their upbringing.
“We are in for the total development of the children, not only the cognitive development. We are there for their moral development so that they are able to fit in society wherever they go. We cannot do that without correction. This is an unfortunate situation, it shall not repeat itself, we shall continue to engage community members,” he said.
The district education director tells Citi News his outfit has been collaborating with the district chief executive for the police to arrest the perpetrators before the teachers return to the classroom.
“We are calling on the police to arrest the perpetrators,” he said.
Background
A teacher of the Odumase MA JHS on Thursday punished a student for misconduct and the student then called other community members to attack teachers in the school.
According to the District Education Director, Kwabena Owusu Nketia, the community members who were wielding machetes attempted to attack the teachers of the school.
One of the teachers who tried to prevent the community members from entering their office to attack them reportedly had some bruises as a sister of one of the community members who was preventing the brother from using the machete on the teachers sustained cutlass wounds in the process.