Accra: Mr Emmanuel Ofoe Fiemawhle, the Headmaster of Accra Academy Senior High School (SHS), has attributed the rising cases of indiscipline among students to a shortage of on-campus staff. With a student population of about 5,000, only 22 staff members reside on campus, making it challenging to effectively supervise and manage students. “We have 22 of our staff who serve as hall masters and other auxiliary workers. So, it is difficult to manage the students as boarders. If you want to look at the sources for indiscipline, it is because the numbers are not enough to manage the students as boarders,” he said.

According to Ghana News Agency, Mr Ofoe Fiemawhle made these remarks on Monday when the Education Committee of Parliament paid a working visit to the school as part of its oversight responsibility to assess the school’s performance and challenges. This visit is part of a broader tour of selected SHS and Private Universities in the Greater Accra Region by the Committee.

The Headmaster urged consideration for staff accommodation as part of the GETFund priority, stating, “I think we should be considering that as part of the priority of the GETFund. For some time now, I haven’t received anything from residential infrastructure,” he told the committee. The Chairman of the Education Committee, Mr Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, acknowledged the staffing challenges and assured that efforts were underway to address the issue.

“We have also seen the shortage of staff in the various schools that we went to. So, we recommend to the Minister of Education to fight for clearance from the Minister of Finance so that they can recruit teachers for senior high schools as well as auxiliary staff,” he said.