The Kwahu South District Director of Education, Mr James Nii Okaija Dinsey, has ordered the temporary closure of St. Peters' Secondary School and all the 1,262 students sent home with exception of some few prefects following students' disturbances in the school.
Property worth millions of cedis, including seven electricity meters, a large number of louver blades, florescent tubes, a double cabin refrigerator, a stabilizer and a quantity of mosquito nets have been destroyed by the students.
Briefing the press at the school compound at Nkwatia, Mr Dinsey said at about 12 mid-night last Thursday, he had a telephone call from the Headmaster of the school, Mr David Afram that students were rioting in the school and were causing damage to school property so he rushed to the school where he met some police personnel who have restored order.
He said the school authorities told him that, they realized that some students have flouted the school's regulation not to send mobile phones to the school and were commercially rendering mobile phone services to other students so the school authorities decided to conduct unexpected search in the dormitories to retrieve those mobile phones at 12-midnight last Thursday.
The District Director said during the search, five mobile phones were retrieved and the students became annoyed, attacked the five teachers who conducted the search at their various bungalows and destroyed their personal effects, including electrical gadgets and meters.
He said he returned to the school at about 8.00 a.m. the following morning and met the teachers and the students to resolve the problems but the teachers threaten to withdraw their services since their life were in danger .
Mr. Dinsey said he met the students to find out who were behind the problem, but could not make a headway and therefore had to close down the school to institute an investigation into the disturbances.
When some of the students were interviewed, they expressed concern about the odd hour of the search and also complained of regular flogging and slapping of some of the students including prefects by teachers of the school with the least offence.
They said the Masters and some strangers who conducted the search dipped their hands into their foods, especially gari therefore, contaminating it.
The District Director has urged the prefects to come out with a report which led to the disturbances to ensure the early re-opening of the school.