The Upper West Regional Directorate of the Ghana Education Service, has closed down Erimon Senior High Technical School in the Lawra District of the Upper West Region, after students of the institution went on a rampage supposedly in protest against the school’s authorities.
The Directorate has set up a five-member team to investigate the circumstances surrounding the violent demonstration which destroyed sections of dormitories, administrative block and classroom structures last Saturday.
[contextly_sidebar id=”oEtujJWbXo0cKbmWkzTsUrwkhffC2D8I”]The Upper West Regional Director of Education, Evans Kpebah, told Citi News that the team has just a week to submit a report for a swift action to be taken.
He said the membership of the Committee investigating the incident includes the police, the regional directorate of education, and other stakeholders.
The Upper West Regional Director, who visited the school on Sunday morning with a police team, said: “the situation is currently under control.”
He however declined to comment on the issues that triggered the demonstration, saying “I don’t want to tamper with the investigations.”
Possible cause of rioting
Citi News sources however say the students acted in protest against a disciplinary measure imposed on one of them, by a friend of a teacher of the school, who had accompanied the teacher to the premises that night.
Sources said the visiting friend of the teacher went as far as lashing the student for a “misbehaviour” [improper dressing], a situation that angered the students who reacted in a violent manner.
Other student riots
The most recent student riots occurred at Dabokpa Technical Institute in the Northern Region, and the Gyaama Pensan Senior High Technical School in the Kwabre East District of the Ashanti Region.
In March 2017, Dabokpa Technical Institute in the Northern Region was temporarily shut down following the riot.
In December 2017, angry Gyaama Pensan Senior High Technical School students protested against the headmaster of the school, whom they say prevented them from partaking in extracurricular activities such as inter-school sports competition, quizzes and entertainment.
The students have vandalized school properties including the vehicle of the headmaster and his apartment.
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By: Mahama Latif/citifmonline.com/Ghana