Appalling Conditions Exposed At TAGISS

Lee Ocran, Min. for Education

Nowhere in Ghana is quality education needed most than any part of the three Regions of the North; Upper West, Upper East and Northern. For many people, it will require the genuine and selfless contributions of residents themselves in order to make things better or catch-up with the rest of the country aside what successive governments were doing.

But whilst some private individuals were making giant strides to complement the efforts of governments to improve upon the appalling conditions in the educational sector, others were also riding on the backs of most ignorant parents and guardians to hoodwink and charge them huge sums of money with the promise of brightening the future of their wards.  

For instance, in the Northern Regional capital Tamale, there were a number of private senior high schools (SHS) which were established with the ultimate objective of bringing hope to students who did not perform well at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) or were rejected by the computerised school selection placement system (CSSPS) although they passed. 

Some of the private SHSs in the Tamale Metropolis include Tamale Girls International Senior High School (TAGISS), Tamale Boys International Senior High School (TABOYS), Strategic Senior High School (STRASEC), ICODEHS Senior High School, City Senior High School, Fathul-Mubien SHS, Al Salaam Excellent Academy, Classical Oriental College, Ibn Abass SHS and Success College.

Others are Zion Senior High School, Tamale School of Management Studies, Royal Senior High School, GIFAM Senior High School, General Arts Senior High School, A-Plus Senior High School, Business College International, Napasheini SHS, Al-Maktoum SHS, Standard Promotion SHS, Adventist SHS, Presbyterian SHS, Tamaha SHS, K.C. SHS  and Tamale Institute of Business Studies (TIBS), among others.

Although some of the aforementioned institutions might be doing quite well, some were doing a great disservice to students and their parents by charging them exorbitant fees but offering poor academic tuition in return, the result of which could only dim their brighter future.

Tamale Mayor, Alhaji Harruna Friday

A case in point was the Tamale Girls International Senior High School which Savannahnews had been investigating into its administration, academic activities and general standard of living of its students. 

Established in 1997 by educationist, businessman and politician Albert Atutiga, TAGISS with a student population of about 600, lacked certain important basic facilities that were needed in order to ensure a complete accomplishment of second cycle education. 

Some students and teachers, who confided with this reporter, disclosed that the school had no library, no textbooks, no lesson timetable, no heads of department, no housemistress, no permanent tutors, no syllabus/curricular, no toilet facilities, no staff common room and none of the teachers was on salary except National Service Personnel and NYEP teachers who were engaged and paid allowances by government.

The school which is located at Datoyili along the Tamale-Buipe Highway and about five miles away from the centre of Tamale, could best be cited as one with poor infrastructure, congested dormitories and lacked portable water, insufficient and unsuitable classroom furniture as well as an unconducive environment for studies. Besides, the school could boast of only a volleyball pitch and nothing more than that to promote extracurricular activities. 

Savannahnews can state that the young girls of this school were living in the most awful conditions and any first time visitor to the school could easily predict a gloomy future for them by the mere sight of the unfriendly and insecure environment they lived in. 

With proper monitoring and supervision, and the provision of the aforementioned tangible facilities, TAGISS according to some teachers of the school could excel if Mr. Atutigah attached some level of seriousness to the running of the institution. 

The Tamale Metropolitan Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES) estimated that about forty private SHSs were currently operating in the Metropolis, but unfortunately it did not even know the location of most of these schools, thus monitoring and supervision was a problem.

The Tamale Metropolitan Director of GES, Alhaji Abdul-Rahaman Saani admitted in an exclusive interview with Savannahnews that, most of the true proprietors or owners of the private SHSs were unknown, adding that they were often represented by school heads or people who managed the schools on their behalf.

Although the GES has the mandate to close down any private SHS that flouted its regulations, it seemed officers at the Tamale Metro Education office lacked the courage to do so.

According to Alhaji Saani, they (officials of the GES) were aware that most of the private SHSs were seriously flouting the regulations guiding their operations with impunity, but they were afraid the owners of the schools or communities in which the schools operated could rise up against them if they made any attempt to close them down.

The Metropolitan Director of GES confirmed that there were certain basic requirements that were supposed to be met by any private individual or group of persons and organizations that wanted to establish a school, be it boarding or day. “You must provide library facilities/appropriate textbooks, appropriate classroom furniture, appropriate chalk/marker board, teaching syllabus/curricular, classrooms, places of convenience and at least one-third of teachers must be trained teachers”, he stated. 

When contacted, Mr. Albert Atutigah confessed to Savannahnews that he was not paying his staff, but braggingly asked this reporter whether that was his concern. 

Although he would not comment further on other issues mentioned to him, Mr. Atutigah threatened to sue this reporter in court if he dared publish anything negative about his school.

Meanwhile, a recent inquest into the poor management of TAGISS by the BNI and Education Sub-committee of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, following the outbreak of an epidemic in the school which nearly killed several students has corroborated Savannahnews findings. Detail soon.