Headmaster of Koforidua Senior High Technical School (SECTECH), Koforidua, Eastern region, Samuel Prince Folley, has revealed that bedbugs infestation in the school sometimes compels many of his students to sleep in the school’s dining hall.
He said with the high incidence of bug infestation, students found it extremely difficult to sleep, especially at night, adding that the situation was also having a toll on the academic work.
Mr Gyamfi made the revelation during a fumigation and disinfection exercise in Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the Eastern Region on Thursday (May 08, 2020) by Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
The exercise formed part of efforts by the Ghana Education Service (GES) to rid SHSs in the country of bedbugs, and to also help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic when students are called back.
About 14 SHSs were covered on the day, and these included SECTECH, Oyoko Methodist SHS, Universal SHS, Oti Boateng SHS, SDA SHS, Liberty Specialist Institute, Hyundai Koica Technical Institute and Pope John SHS.
The rest were Ghana SHS, New Juaben SHS, Moses Accountancy SHS, New Juaben College of Commerce, School For Deaf and Pentecost SHS.
Aside the issue of bedbugs, Mr Folley indicated that his school was also grappling with how to deal with rodents.
Against that backdrop, he commended GES and Zoomlion Ghana Limited for the initiative. He was upbeat that the exercise would help rid the school of bedbugs.
On post-COVID-19, the headmaster of SECTECH disclosed that the school has bought a number of Veronica Buckets, soaps and alcohol-based hand sanitisers.
He said these will be placed at vantage points to enable the students use as part of measures to contain the spread of the virus.
However, he admitted that it will be difficult for the students to observe the social/physical distancing protocol, attributing that to high student population and the lack of adequate dormitories.
At the Pentecost Senior High School, the Headmaster, Mr Peter Atta Gyamfi, described the exercise as ‘timely,’ adding that it will help get rid of bedbugs from the school.
He, therefore, urged the GES to periodically ensure that fumigation of SHSs is periodically done.
He stated that the coronavirus pandemic has affected students, particularly those in their final year. That notwithstanding, he was hopeful that things would return to normalcy for academic work to continue.
For his part, the Headmaster of Oyoko Methodist SHS, Mr Frank Nkum Eyiah, indicated that his administration had put in place a plan that will adequately prepare, especially the final year students, for their examinations.
A similar package, he added, will be made available to cater for SHS 1 and SHS 2 students respectively, to help them catch up for what they have lost over the period.