Management at Accra Academy Senior High School says the rising level of student indiscipline is largely due to a shortage of on-campus staff.

Headmaster Emmanuel Ofoe Fiemawhle explained that just 22 staff members currently live on campus and are responsible for supervising nearly 5,000 students. This huge gap in staff numbers, he said, makes it very difficult to manage and monitor the students properly.

He shared these concerns during a visit by Parliament’s Education Committee.

“We have 22 of our staff who serve as hall masters and other auxiliary workers. So, it is difficult to manage the students as boarders. If you want to look at the sources for indiscipline, it is because the numbers are not enough to manage the students as boarders.

“I think we should be considering that as part of the priority of the GETFund. For some time now, I haven’t received anything from residential infrastructure,” he said.

Responding to the issue, Chairman of the Education Committee, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, acknowledged that the staffing problem is not unique to Accra Academy.

“We have also seen the shortage of staff in the various schools that we went to. In Accra Academy, with a student population of almost 6,000, they lack staff, and they must be provided with the same.

“So, we recommend to the Minister of Education to fight for clearance from the Minister of Finance so that they can recruit teachers for senior high schools as well as auxiliary staff,” he added.