The drowning of nine precious lives, school children, a few days ago in the Northern Region is a national tragedy.
That the drowning took place when the deceased were returning from labouring on the farm of the head teacher makes the story even more painful and regrettable.
The pain the parents of the deceased are enduring can only be imagined. The story expectedly resonated across the country because of not only the number of the deceased but the circumstances leading to their death.
The head teacher as well as the townsfolk are traumatised, the former’s even more serious and requiring intervention to stabilise him.
The occurrence has brought to the front burner a subject which is hardly discussed although it is a trend endemic in the rural parts of the country.
The practice of school children going to labour on the farms of teachers and head teachers has often been complained about by some parents. Children at school should not be engaged in any activity which goes to enrich those engaging them for such enterprise.
It sounds like child labour in disguise, which is why some observers cannot be convinced about its propriety.
In some cases parents are aware that their children work on the farms of their head teachers or even teachers and give tacit approval to the practice convinced that it does not affect the academic work of the students.
An opportunity has reared its head for the authorities and the nation as a whole to take another look at the subject with a view to tolling its knell once and for all.
Extra curricula activities constitute part of the learning process in schools, not however the kind of labour some teachers direct students to undertake.
A directive should be issued by the relevant authorities to all school heads to stop forthwith the trend of having school children work on the farms of head teachers and teachers. The sanctions accompanying breaches should be succinctly spelt out in such a directive.
During the days of ‘Operation Feed Yourself’ under the late Gen Acheampong regime, schools had farms on which students worked to feed the school. This cannot be likened to that trend because this is about the interest of the teachers and not the school as a whole.
The parents of the deceased even as they endure the predicament occasioned by the loss, we have learnt have no ill-feelings against the head teacher. Unfortunately, the law has to take its course, the decision of the bench being what rules.
We join the rest of the nation in expressing our condolences to the families of the deceased and ask the Almighty God to grant them the fortitude to endure this monumental loss.
May the souls of the innocent children rest in peace.