OLA SHS Students Pound Faeces As Punishment, GES Investigates Allegation

…GES Investigates Allegation

The Volta Regional directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has begun investigation into allegation that some students of the Ola Senior High School (SHS) in Ho, are being forced to pound faeces in the school’s toilet facility, as a punishment for flouting school rules.

According to the report, victims of this inhumane act are mostly first year students in Form 1,who are supposedly forced to do this punishment, commonly termed “night soil carriers” in the school.

This issue came to the fore, following agitation from some parents on the school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) WhatsApp platform, who were appalled by certain reports or complaints they regularly received from their wards in the school and, therefore, have decided to raise the alarm.

Per the allegation, the toilet facility (Septic Tank) in the school has been full for sometime now, but have not been emptied by the authorities. This has led some deviant seniors, mostly in their final year, to send their juniors to go and push the faeces, as a form of punishment.

Excerpts of the leaked WhatsApp conversations by the angry parents and sighted by The Anchor read, “I leant their toilet is full, and they punish form-one students to pound the toilet, so it will go down for them to reuse.”

“Good evening lovers of our children, these children complained bitterly that the toilet is full to extend that they have to do this on paper and throw in, some were punished to pound the toilet before it goes down for them to use again. Please can’t PTA (we) evacuate this?”

“Very true. My daughter also told me that, one of the major problems of the school is water. She said sometimes, some of them have to sacrifice their food before getting water to bath.”

The idea behind the punishment, The Anchor learnt, was to ensure that the level of fecal matter goes down, each time the students are punished to push or pound it, so as to enable them to use the facility.

The headmistress of the Ola Senior SHS, Madam Benedicta Agbezudor, when contacted, said she will not speak on the matter, because the issue is being investigated by her superiors at the regional.

Madam Agbezudor, who is the newly appointed, told The Anchor that she would not want to be held liable for granting an interview to the media and, therefore, directed the paper to speak to the parents who went to the media with the issue.

Below are some of the leaked PTA WhatsApp conversations published unedited:

“I leant their toilet is full, and they punish form-one students to pound the toilet, so it will go down for them to reuse”

“Good evening lovers of our children these children complained bitterly that the toilet is full to extend that they have to do this on paper and throw in, some were punished to pound the toilet before it goes down for them to use again. Please can’t t PTA (we) evacuate this?”

“Very true. My daughter also told me that, one of the major problems of the school is water. She said sometimes, some of them have to sacrifice their food before getting water to bath.”

“They have to go and queue for a long time before getting water to bath and by the time they return, dinning is over.”

“Oh my goodness! That sounds like prison! That’s what they make prison inmates do. Come on school authorities, our children are not prisoners please.”

“That’s enough to put anyone off eating for a long time. How does pounding toilet teach anyone to be a lady? It’s sheer wickedness. Authorities, please explain to me. Please ask the seniors to put an immediate stop to this terrible thing. I will find out if they will or have put a stop to it or not… I can’t believe this”

“Exactly my concern. We paid money, our kids are suffering. What was the over 200,000.00 paid used for? We are pleading for accountability. The things our wards are telling us are horrible and unacceptable.”

“Concerns are being raised by parents and some of these concerns and reports are very disturbing and disheartening, yet authorities on this platform are not responding to some of these wide allegations to prevent this from escalating and damaging the image and reputation of the school. Pls, let us paint the true picture of the school. I am not sure our girls are now used as conservancy labourers.”

“On the day of reopening, a newsletter was given to parents/guardians of Freshers detailing some financial responsibility of parents/guardians towards their children and the PTA.”

“The total amount is GH₵421.00 for the 2023 academic year. The breakdown includes GH₵200.00 extension (extra classes) fee and GH₵221.00 PTA Levy/Administrative Dues. During the period, some parents paid in full, while others made partial payments.”

Source:Anchorghana.com