Wa, Dec. 11, GNA - Parents and School Management Committees (SMCs) of junior secondary schools in the Funsi Circuit of the Ghana Education Service in the Wa East District have expressed their disappointment in the way the GES handled the recent school placement exercise. They said they are wondering why the whole circuit was left out. "We suffer sleepless nights over the unilateral or silencing second round placement of our wards after they were left out completely after the first round placement was released".

The affected Schools are, Funsi Junior Secondary School (JSS), Buffiama JSS, Yaala JSS, Kundugu JSS and Kunyebin JSS. A letter to the Regional Director of the Education at Wa on Monday said after the aggrieved students complained to the District Director for being left out in the first placement, he filled a form on behalf of the students and sent it to Accra.

The parents followed up and met with the District Director for Wa East at Funsi who telephoned the Regional Director on the issue and followed up on October 13.

The letter said the District Director came back with a placement sheet that was only meant to silence the students and their communities. They noted that almost all the aggrieved students were placed in technical schools without any consideration given to their choice of subjects and grades.

The Parents and SMCs called on the authorities to trace the root cause of the problem and take steps to prevent such occurrences in the future especially in the Funsi Circuit. "A situation of that nature can perpetuate the already high drop-out rate in the district, which had led to high illiteracy, ignorance, disease and low productivity with their attendant deprivation, marginalization and neglect," they said. 11 Dec 06