Basic Schools

Latest update on the Swedru Student’s death saga; Teacher’s hope on Autopsy report

31st May 2023

Ferdinand | EducationGhana |May 31|Latest update on the Swedru Student’s death saga; Teacher’s hope on Autopsy report

Report of alleged caning to death issue at Swedru Methodist B. A team of the Regional Chairman, Regional Secretary and Regional treasurer were at Swedru on the 29th day of May 2023.

The team visited the Methodist schools A and B to have interactions with the heads.

The team went to the police station to interact with the family of the deceased, the GNAT secretary, colleague heads, COHBS district secretary, the Reverend ministers who were there to provide counselling, the lady (Millicent) in the centre of this brouhaha, teachers from Swedru Snr High representing Millicent’s husband and the legal team representing Millicent.

The team led by the chairman visited the municipal Director of education to get first-hand information about the case and the position of the Directorate and steps to calm the tide.

The Director enumerated various steps including visitations to the deceased family, issuance of queries to the lady teacher, the head of the school, and the SISO in charge of that circuit.

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All three were requested to appear before a disciplinary committee today the 31is day of May. More about that later.

The team went back to the police station to discuss the way forward and to help secure a Self Recognizance bail for the lady teacher, Millicent.

.OBSERVATIONS

1. The teacher canned many students who couldn’t score appreciable marks during the class exercise, including the deceased.

2..Caning took place on Wednesday and the boy passed on a week after caning. Millicent actually did the caning.

3..The headteacher got to know of the incident only on Saturday when the deceased mother called to inform him of the child’s condition. The headteacher visited the boy to ascertain if there were visible signs/marks.

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4. The headteacher again visited the boy on Sunday, and looking at the situation, recommended that the boy be sent to the hospital..The family agreed and sent him to the hospital.

5. The boy passed away on Tuesday, a week after the caning exercise.

6..The case is now Republic versus Millicent Koomson and of course a criminal case if it is established that death occurred due to caning. Plans are underway to transport the body to the Police hospital for a pathological report.

The tussle now is that the deceased family wants the body to be buried immediately.

Don’t forget the mother had a wedding ceremony on Saturday and three days later the son died. She wants a burial immediately so that she can join her husband in Accra.

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MISINFORMATION

Meanwhile, a number of FM stations are linking the death to the caning. For posterity, Millicent’s family wants an autopsy to be sure of the real cause of death..the battle continues.

Background

A 13-year-old student at Swedru Methodist ‘B’ Basic School in the Central Region has lost his life after a teacher caned him.

Godfred Ankomah reportedly died after being caned on the back by his class teacher, Madam Mili. According to a UTV reporter, Godfred, who was in form 2, was caned for answering some homework questions wrongly. JHS 2 student Godfred Ankomah who is reportedly dead.

What led to the caning of Godfred?

The UTV reporter, Jacob Kubi, narrated that on Wednesday after the students completed an assignment Madam Mili gave to them, she left the class to speak to a colleague.

The teacher heard the students talking and asked them to keep quiet.

“Madam Mili angrily returned to the class and asked the students to submit the homework she gave them on Monday. She told the students she would cane them for every wrong question answered. After marking Godfred’s work, he had answered six questions wrongly.”

This meant that Godfred would receive six lashes. “Godfred pleaded with the teacher to cane him in his palm instead of his back but the teacher did not agree and asked him to kneel.

The teacher caned Godfred on his back,” the reporter added. Godfred reported the incident to his mother when he got home and said that he was in pain.

After a while, the 13-year-old started coughing blood and was taken to the Agona Swedru Hospital. Godfred was attended to and given medications.

They asked him to return to the hospital the next day but they could not stay home since Godfred was still coughing blood. They were referred to the Winneba Government Hospital when the child died on the way.

The matter has been reported to the Agona Police Station. No post-mortem has been done yet.