Osu PRESEC Headmistress In Hot Waters

The Headmistress of Osu Presbyterian Senior High School (PRESEC), Diana Dennis Oye Welbeck is in trouble as teachers of the school are calling for her dismissal.

The teachers, numbering about 62, have embarked on a sit-down strike action since September 17, 2012 when the school re-opened.

Clad in red arm bands, the teachers protested on the school’s campus to register their displeasure at the headmistress.

Ohemeng Samuel, Acting Staff Secretary of the school, in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, indicated that their anguish started last term but they were asked to cooperate with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to set up an investigation committee to examine their grievances.

He said they raised several issues in a petition dated March 9, 2012 to the GES.

The aggrieved teachers claim Ms. Welbeck uses staff welfare contribution arbitrarily and consistently refuses to render any accounts to them.

Mr Samuel said the headmistress disrespects teaching staff and reprimands them in front of students.

This, according to him, has seriously undermined the authority of teachers in the school.

Some of the agitated teachers attributed the high attrition rate in the school to the ill-treatment they suffer at the hands of the headmistress.

Mr. Ohemeng claimed they sent a three-page petition to the hierarchy of institutions responsible for the running of Senior High School (SHS), Office of the President, Labour Commission and the Ministry of Education.

“The headmistress’ impropriety and general disrespect towards teachers and parents has persisted for a very long time, reports have been made to the various educational directorates by affected staff members and no concrete action has been taken to relieve teachers from this quagmire,” he stated.

According to the teachers, Ms. Welbeck had virtually robbed them of their sense of dignity.

The teachers said they would not compromise on their call for the removal of the headmistress and called for reports of the investigation committee.

Some students, who spoke on anonymity to DAILY GUIDE, corroborated the account of the teachers.

When DAILY GUIDE visited the school’s administration block to ascertain the facts of the case, a certain Beatrice Adjetey who claimed to be the acting headmistress of the school, said Ms Diana Welbeck was busy.

She denied the fact that teachers had embarked on a strike action, but the students were seen loitering during class hours.