SHOULD STUDENTS PESTER THE HEADMASTER WITH TRIVIAL ISSUES?

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Last week during Open Forum, the boys asked our Headmaster some interesting questions.

Fearing that the school barber is defying the principles of good hygiene by his inability to sterilize his barbering tools, the students asked Headmaster Owusu-Achiaw what he was doing about the barber. They wanted the headmaster to urge the barber to clean the tools after each haircut.

Surprised, the Headmaster asked why he, as Headmaster, should be the one to address a common barber.

The students were outraged, calling the Headmaster's remarks inappropriate, and that he should be responsible for the barber's actions.

Headmaster was implying to them that there must be a hierachical structure in place for such grievances, and that students should not expect the Full Headmaster to attend to common issues.

We tend to agree with him.

What happened to the Health Prefect? Why can't the Health Prefects and Senior Prefects hold meetings with the barber and resolve this issue amicably without even the masters finding out? Is it because this group of prefects are ineffective? If such attempt by the Prefects were to fail, it will be then that the masters should be informed, and even then, it shouldn't get straight to the Headmaster's desk.

A Housemaster or Senior Housemaster can help resolve the problem.

Should the citizens of Kumasi march straight to President Kufuor's office in the Castle and demand answers about a dirty gutter in Kumasi?

The students also asked the Headmaster the origin of the malodorous scent coming from the front of the Library. The Headmaster said he could not detect the source of that smell.

People should be advised that the Open Forum is a very unique system available at Prempeh, that allows students to talk to the Headmaster and get answers to pressing issues. At the same time students should be mindful not to blemish that privilege by asking trivial questions which they themselves can solve.

The second question about the smell is fine, but the barber issue actually is a pointer to the ineffectiveness of our current prefectorial body. Prempeh's chain of command starts with the Prefects and ends at the top with the Headmaster. Going straight to the top of the command cheapens the position of the Headmaster, which is the most distinguished office in the whole of Ashanti Region secondary education system.