The Western Regional Director of Education, Enyonam Afi Amefugah, has denied caning a female teacher who whipped some class-two pupils for showing up late for school to write examination.
The teacher at Well Road Primary School in Sekondi was “hitting the legs” of the pupils with cane Wednesday when the Director chanced on the incident which she deemed inappropriate, hence intervened. The pupils were said to have reported late to the examination hall.
The Director said when she saw the teacher caning the legs of some the class-two pupils, she initially thought it was just one pupil “but soon after, it continued from that one to others so impulsively I needed to put a stop to it”.
According to the Ms. Amefugah, upon interrogation, the teacher told her that she was joking with the pupils but the Director insisted what she saw could not be a joke.
“Hitting the legs of these feeble kids, I collected the cane from her and said ‘You could have even hit their palms and like a demonstration, I tapped her palms with the cane. I did not cane my class-two teacher,” Ms Amefugah said at a news conference Friday morning.
She described the claims that she caned the teacher as “erroneous”.
The Director said she left a message for the headteacher of the school who was yet to arrive, and planned to report the matter to the Metro Director of Education in the area.
“At about 4.00pm, the lady teacher and her headteacher came to my office to apologise for what she did to the pupils. I admonish her to upgrade herself in her teaching profession and to update herself with the policies of G. E.S,” she said.
“How would I cane a teacher knowing very well that caning in schools is prohibited? How would I correct a wrong, repeating the same wrong? l cannot cane my teacher when I am a very strong advocate for the abolishing of caning,” she added.
“I therefore, emphatically state that I did not cane her… and the teacher herself can attest to this”.
The Director said she would continue to ensure the best interest of both pupils and teachers, and promote conducive teaching and learning environment in the Western Region.
Meanwhile, both the Director and the teacher embraced each other to signify reconciliation.
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