The Chief Executive for Bawku Municipality, Hamza Amadu has given the assurance that despite the ban on auto-rickshaws otherwise known as ‘yellow-yellow’, and subsequent concerns by the Conference of Heads of Basic Schools (COHBS) and some Teacher Unions, schools have remained open. Learning and teaching activities have continued smoothly.
Mr. Amadu said this when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show.
“On my way from Tamale, I had a message from the GES Director. Apparently, they [Conference of Heads of Basic Schools, COHBS] threatened that because of the ban on yellow-yellow [covered auto-rickshaws], it is difficult [for teachers]. Earlier, MUSEC and REGSEC took decisions to ban the wearing of smock. We also took a decision to ban the use of motorbikes because these were things that people were using in the orchestration of crimes and [they] run away. Because of that impunity, what REGSEC decided recently was to place a ban on the use of yellow-yellow. It has brought untold hardship to the people of Bawku. Majority of the people who stay away from the township [and] even people from the main township find it difficult and so some teachers organised themselves and also brought their plea and wrote a petition that if this is what is happening, it means that they are preparing to lay down their tools. They cannot go to work.”
“The following two days, I had another letter coming from the same source that other concerned teachers think that no, their counterparts are being hypocritical. They would not close down the school. They still think that their schools would operate. One side says let’s close down the schools, the other side thinks that they can manage. As I talk to you, not a single school since that day has been closed. All the schools are in operation. Teachers go to school, they do everything.”
He commended the teachers for staying at post and rendering valuable service to the students of the area.
It would be recalled that the Conference of Heads of Basic Schools (COHBS) in the Bawku Municipality in the Upper East Region has called for the immediate closure of basic schools in the area.
COHBS’ call was backed by some major teacher unions.
This follows the recent ban on the riding of tricycles, popularly referred to as “yellow yellow”, a common means of transportation in the area, by the Upper East Regional Security Council (REGSEC).
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
