September 20, 2021
By: Aruna Kamara (Bo)
The Principal of Bumpeh High School in Bumpeh Ngao Chiefdom, Bo District, Victor Kailie has categorically stated that quality education cannot be achieved in the school due to the lack of trained and qualified teachers and conducive learning environment which has largely contributed to the poor performance of the school in public examinations.
Speaking to A-Z Newspaper in an exclusive interview, Mr. Kailie said that “I am faced with a lot of challenges to run the school. To start with, the school does not have trained and qualified teachers especially the senior sector of the school in subject areas like chemistry and physics”.
“This is very horrible and worrisome to say the least and as a principal I have to go to the extend to travel to Bo in order to get part time teachers for the school so that our pupils will not be deprived of the acquisition of quality education to improve on their performance in public exams’’, he said.
Mr. Kailie however said that it is sad to indicate the part time teachers brought to the school are not committed to the delivering the service hired for and the reason is that they do not want to stay on campus due to poor infrastructure of the school.
“The part time teachers will come for one week or a month and decide to go back to Bo and this is also as result of the stipend given to them which is very small and the unfortunate part of it they are not on pin code, which has worsened the situation the problem,’’ he said.
He added that he has seventeen teachers and there are three teachers on payroll and the school runs from JSS 1 to SS3 and when he took over as principal of the school the number has gone up to six teachers, further pointing out that 13 teachers are in the school that are not trained and qualified.
Mr. Kailie said that because of it is difficult to get trained and qualified teachers he brought on board students whom some went through the school to come and help the school and bulk of form the staff of the school.
He however said that they are managing the system so that the pupils cannot be deprived from education which they have right to acquire, noting that the free and quality education cannot be achieved in the school considering the challenges they are facing at Bumpeh High School.
According to him, the performance of the pupils in public exams has not being too good. For the BECE exams, there has not being outstanding result. We have being managing but for the WASSCE exams it is horrible as we have not been able to get University requirement.
“We are seriously constrained in having enough classrooms for the pupils. We have three classic rooms for the school, adding that the school needs six additional classrooms to salvage the situation for the senior sector,” Kalie said.
He added that the school management held a meeting to have a school development plan and a lot things that were discussed have not being achieved and I do not have enough resources to take care of the school, adding that there is little input of the community people for now and the old students of the school have not come to the aid of the school even though they are working on doing something.
“I have taken one year as principal of the school but not much has been done for the school,” he said.
“If we do not have trained and qualified teachers and conducive learning environment how can we achieve quality education which is a very good dream of President Bio,’’ Mr. Kailie noted, adding that something urgent needs to be done to address the challenges of the school.
However, some old students of the school have called on the Government to help the school with trained and quailed teachers and also improve on the poor infrastructure of the school to enhance the actualization of the free and quality education.
