By: Aruna Kamara (BO)
Aggrieved parents belonging to the Community Teachers Association (CTA) have called for the removal of the Principal of Islamic Call Society Junior Secondary School at Yamadu in Baoma Chiefdom, Bo District.
Speaking to A-Z Newspaper, they claimed their call for the removal of the Principal, Michael Derrick Charles is a result of the standard of education has drastically depreciated since he took over in 2018.
They added that their call for the removal of the Principal cannot also be unconnected to the alleged mismanagement of school fee subsidy.
Amadu Bangura, a parent pointed out that the principal came and met the high standard of the school but he has reduced the standard, noting that he cannot control the teachers and does not go to the school regularly.
He claimed that the principal has gone ahead to reduce the passing mark to other classes to 40%, which according to them, is responsible for the drop in the quality of education.
The CTA Chairman, Mohamed Alie said that he has been served a letter by the principal to unilaterally remove him from his position, claiming that his term of office has expired on 1 August 2022.
He said “It is the parents who appointed me and have the power to remove me and if I was not performing, the parents would have removed me. I am the target of the principal but when you target me you target the community people who appointed me to lead the Community Teachers Association (CTA)”.
CTA chairman said that the principal came into office in the 2018/2019 academic year but he has not been using the school fee subsidy for the intended purpose, he said “I have evidence for what I am saying and have documents to substantiate my claims.”
He said that “It is the Board that approves the withdrawer of money from the school account but the principal withdraws the money from the account before calling the Board meeting to approve the withdrawer”.
The effort made to get the side of the Principal in question proved futile.
However, some of the teachers who spoke to A-Z Newspaper on the condition of anonymity said that “not all that the parents are claiming is correct but they want the education ministry and the Islamic call Society Mission that owns the school to come and mount a robust investigation to put the record straight”.
