Tema Public Schools Under Siege ... Miscreants Sleep, Smoke, Cook in Schools

By Godfred Blay Gibbah

Tema — Residents of Tema have appealed to the authorities to help curb activities of drug addicts who have invaded some public schools and turned them into "Ghettoes", where they smoke substances believed to be Indian hemp and cocaine during school hours.

The miscreants have turned the schools into their sleeping abode, erected mosquito nets on the schools' verandah where they sleep and set fire in the open to cook, raising concerns over fire safety.

The schools affected are Twedaase Junior High School, Twedaase Primary school, Akodzo Junior High School and George Padmore Basic School all in Community 1.

On the visit to Twedaase JHS, some of the addicts the Ghanaian Times spotted were sleeping under trees in the compound while school was in full session.

One of the residents, Mr Solomon Quartey, a retired electrical engineer, said the phenomenon was dangerous for the pupils because it could influence them to experiment with drugs.

"We are also concerned because any of the pupils or teachers could be harmed by an addict," he told the Ghanaian Times.

The Twedaase JHS serves as a Teachers' Resource Centre in the Tema Metropolis where teaching and learning materials are prepared. Apart from that, it is a venue for holding workshops for teachers.

One of the teachers in the school who did not want to be identified urged the authorities to act swiftly to drive away the miscreants and improve security, teaching and learning in the school.

"We do not feel safe in the school, while teaching we have to look over our shoulders every now and then to see whether an addict is entering the classroom or not," she said.

She said there had been cases of robbery at Twedaase JHS and Akodzo JHS.

When contacted the Public Relations Officer of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly, Mr Frank Asante, said the assembly had been notified about the issue and it was working with the Community 1 District Police to keep the miscreants away from Twedaase JHS and to arrest those found abusing illicit drugs.

Mr Asante revealed that Twedaase JHS would soon be fenced to keep the miscreants at bay, adding that the TMA was rolling out a project to fence all public schools to prevent encroachment and to ward off miscreants.

He noted that security men were expected to be stationed at the various schools when the project was completed.

Mr Asante appealed to residents to inform the assembly when they see people engaging in the use of illicit drugs or other criminal activities at public places so that the security agencies would be put on alert.

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