Ghana\u2019s Second Lady, Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur has chastised heads of public schools for making unnecessary requests from government.<\/p>\n
She argued that because government has taken it upon itself to provide items such as school uniforms, free lunch for pupils and free sandals, parents and teachers are shirking their responsibilities.<\/p>\n
“I think we have over pampered you people. Because we have provided free school uniforms so parents don’t even want to buy basic things for their children,” she complained.<\/p>\n
Her outburst followed a request made by the headmistress of Kukurantumi Presby Primary School, Juliet Oppong for the government to among other things, provide her school with chalks after\u00a0the second lady presented five sets of computers to the school.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Amissah-Arthur stunned the chiefs and people of Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region when she blatantly turned down the request and rather\u00a0chastised the headmistress for making such a request.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not give you chalk today, neither will I give it to you tomorrow. You have teachers; you have the PTA, go and buy chalk for the school,\u201d she fumed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe head teacher has shocked me. So if the government has provided free school uniforms and it is not up to the number your school needs, can\u2019t you look for other alternatives to provide these items?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou also mentioned that your school does not have chalk, log books; all these are not expensive. The government provides all these teaching and learning materials but sometimes, it is not enough for all the schools across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
She argued that schools are made to set up Parent and Teachers Associations (PTA) to support government\u2019s effort in the provision of logistics for schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll they have to do is to gather a few resources to buy their logistics for the school,\u201d she suggested.<\/p>\n
According to Mrs Amissah-Arthur, government provides more than three quarters of the items public schools need \u201cso the various schools are to provide the remainder so I am very hurt that you are asking me for chalk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Click on link below to listen to Mrs. Amissah-Arthur<\/strong><\/p>\n