The St. Joseph’s Secondary School (SJSS) Alumni of Califonia, Mid-Atlantic, Southeastern, Texas, and the United Kingdom have expressed their deepest concerns to His Grace, Most Reverend Dr. Edward Tamba Charles, Archbishop of the Diocese of Freetown concerning the State of their Alma Mater which has nothing to write home about; as it has exponentially retrogressed in recent times beyond imagination under the leadership and supervision of the duo, Miss Alberta Demby of the Senior Secondary School and Mrs. Rachael Parker of the Junior Secondary School.
In view of the aforesaid, the Ex-pupils have recommended the sacking of the two principals to save the school from further deterioration, recalling how a few months ago they celebrated the grand opening of the new school building due to their relentless and unfaltering contributions backed up by their generous donors in tandem with the ambitious goal to fulfill the vision to see pupils of the school moving into the building but unfortunately, they had an electric current shock with the nightmarish abysmal performance and disgraceful grades in the Basic Examination Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West Africa Senior School Certificate (WASSCE). According to sources out of 300 Pupils who took the BECE exams, only 1% or three (3) pupils genuinely made it to the new building. They stated thus:
‘‘ This is completely disheartening & disappointing bearing in mind the time, effort, and money the alumni have invested in our beloved school. Our goal is for these students to receive the education they deserve to excel and realize their full potential’’
Disappointed and frustrated as the Ex- Pupils are, coupled with their deepest desire to have the school catapulted to the crescendo of achievement, look like the time and compete with other schools in academic performance; as in the old good days when St. Joseph Secondary School was the academic colossus, attracting pupils from far and wide, producing excellent grades and becoming a magnet of attention. Will the school return to the old good days or continue to be held up on a stake that can’t move? Its all depends on the radical approach the Ex-pupils want to affect.
According to the Ex-pupils, poor leadership and administration within the school, coupled with the poor examination results, the overcrowding in Classrooms, lack of adequate teaching staff and teachers not receiving salaries on time are major factors for the abysmal performance of the school for which they held the duo accountable and of which teachers commitments are often watered down with impunity.
“We do not believe that the current leadership can affect the radical change needed to correct the current downward spiral that the school appears to be on. Therefore, as part of a collaborative solution we are requesting the following intervention..” for which among other things tyey called on Archbishop Dr. Edward Tamba Charles to recommend to the Ministry of Education for an immediate overhaul of the leadership of the school, conduct proper and comprehensive screening for new principals and teachers, evaluate qualifications, competency, values, principles and other important credentials”
Common sense suggests that the Ex-pupils are demanding the immediate sacking of the School Principals, who to them are the stumbling blocks to the school’s performance.
The recommendation also hit on the manner of student admission as the biggest problem. It is what most principals do in the country, they turned the schools into their private banana farms, where they harvest during admissions. and it is probable that St. Joseph’s Secondary School is no exception. If pupils at BECE and WASSCE levels are admitted on the grades they make, the school will stand shoulder-high after every examination.
Fast forward, it is glaring that the Ex-pupils have made frantic moves out of their frustration and conducted an investigation questioning why the BECE and WASSCE results have been egregiously bad or so poor, and in their investigations, it was discovered that the abysmally poor performance is as a result of chronic overcrowding in classrooms of which there are up to 80 pupils per class instead of the basic norm of 35-38 pupils in class. These big numbers make it difficult to teach a class effectively and mark papers accordingly.
Another issue identified is the lack of adequate teaching staff and teachers not receiving salaries. It’s a truism that some teachers have taught for over four years without a salary and the principals are cherry-picking whom they help, leading to more frustration and liquidation of the commitment of teachers.
The Ex-pupils also identified the problem of teachers’ and pupils’ absenteeism and the question of bribery which militates academic performance.
Be it as it may, one is tempted to ask the question as to what role has the Bishop played in respect of the request of Ex-pupils for the sacking of the duo since November when Ex-pupils communicated to him recommending the sacking of the principals of the two levels.
As a matter of fact, I contacted Miss Alberta Demby of the Senior School and Mrs. Rachael Parker of the Junior Secondary School about their take on the call for their sackings but they treated the whole issue with a pinch of salt by reading without responding.
