WE NEED LOYAL STAFF AT SOFOLINE

Monday, February 13, 2006

The masters that work at Sofoline are employed by Ghana Education Service. The justification for their salaries derive from the fact that they work within the Service, irrespective of the location. That means that the teachers can receive their pay for the work they do without being loyal to the institution of affiliation.

How many of these men love our school? They should stand up and be counted.

It is the job of the Headmaster to seek out staff who will be loyal to Prempeh's mission and causes. People like Agyei Budu, who have no love for Prempeh College, do not have to remain at Prempeh in order to get paid by GES. They can do that at Atebubu, Atwimaman or Nyinahini.

Our headmaster must cement his reputation by sending out such tawdry, insolent, negligent and passionless teachers away from Prempeh College and bring in those who have a fondness for our school. Because of the delicacy of The Royal School, we need to have people who have the zeal and the love to want to be there and not just those who are looking for a place to collect GES salaries -- such a goal could be easily fulfilled at Dadieso Polytechnic.

Aggrey Housemaster, Barimah, who is seen here enjoying a visit to London in 2005, has a record 5 Prempeh car stickers placed around and inside his car. 5 pennants are all over his car, to show that he is proud to be a part of the school. But do they truly love Prempeh College? They should stand up and get counted. Prove your love by your actions, gentlemen.

It is therefore imperative that Mr. Owusu-Achiaw conjures a list of scapegoats and ship them out of the school to change the Prempeh College atmosphere. Just because the Headmaster came to find the personages already stationed at Sofoline does not imply that all of them are dedicated to Prempeh's mission. Most of them only want a place to stay to collect GES salaries.

The immediate-past headmaster, who went away in disgrace, transferred all the masters with Prempeh pedigree out of Prempeh and brought in non-oldboys because Prempeh graduates were a threat to his totalitarianism. That is why the great biology master Ben Kumah was pushed away. All the great old boys who were teaching passionately to uplift Prempeh were kicked out by the notorious Sekyere. And that is why, when we look at the campus for old boys, the only ones we see are the indefatigable Freeman Housemaster Guy Gee and the quisling who serves as our Senior Housemaster. Generally in Ghana, there is a tendency on the part of certain people not to approach their duties with as much panache as they would do with their alma maters. They don't have to love the school; they can just be there to collect their pay from GES.

What is the function of an Assistant Headmaster?

However, if our administrative machinery was better organized, the situation could have easily been resolved by a Deputy Headmaster without the Headmaster even finding out.

On several occasions we have gone to Sofoline to undertake a school-related mission only to be told that the headmaster is out of town for several days and we should come back when he returns. What is the role of a DEPUTY headmaster? If there is an emergency in Ghana while President Kufuor is out of the country, should the Vice-President wait for the President's return before an action is taken? Is it not the role of the Deputy headmaster to act as Full Headmaster when the headmaster is away? The poor understanding of the role of "the deputy" is pervasive in Ghana, where people think the job of the Deputy is to simply perform tasks assigned to him by the boss and only serve as a messenger to deliver a message of "come back later to see the boss" when the person in charge is not available.

The "Mebaa ha gyaa wo" mentality

This is a very sensitive topic that needs to be addressed with tact. We leave it in the capable hands of our headmaster to cleanse the rot out of our beloved school.

Conclusion

The Agyei Budu imbroglio would never have happened under the Sackey or Osae administration and we should not allow it to happen again.

Unlike Roland, the embattled hero of the medieval French romance Chanson de Roland, who proudly waited until he was overwhelmed before sounding his horn to summon help, prempeh.org is not going to wait for the school to reek before propounding a need for change.

The masters will come and go but Prempeh will always remain. Let the teachers who love the school stand and be counted.