Most teachers in Agbekotsekope, near Asutuare in the Greater Accra Region, have abandoned their classrooms or fled the community following threats to molest the headmaster of the local Methodist Basic School. A letter circulating in the community in the Dangme West District has asked the headmaster, Mr Paul Zidah, to either leave the town by March ending or risk molestation. The residents blame the headmaster and the teachers for the poor performance of the pupils of the school in last year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). Candidates in the small farming community and the surrounding villages in the Dangme West District have not been performing well in the BECE. Before the latest incident, six persons at Dorfor, a nearby community, had allegedly molested the headmistress of the Dorfor Methodist Basic School. The six, who allegedly molested Madam Juliana Teiko Quarshie on January 16, 2012, are currently being tried at the Odumase-Krobo District Court. Both the Agbekotsekope Methodist Basic and the Dorfor Methodist Basic schools are in the Volivo Circuit of Education. According to the letter, Mr Zidah’s stay in office as headmaster was meaningless, for which reason he should pack his belongings and leave the place by the end of the month. It read: “What started in the circuit will continue and if you do not want trouble, kindly and humbly leave before the time assigned to you.” Meanwhile, the Greater-Accra Regional branch of the Conference of Heads of Basic Schools (COHBS), at a meeting held on February 29, 2012, had suspended classes within the Volivo Circuit of Education until further notice. In a letter signed by its Regional Chairperson, Madam Bernice Bulley, COHBS said the action was to save the lives of teachers and the headmasters of basic schools in the area. It appealed to all stakeholders within and outside the district to immediately help resolve the issue to enhance teaching and learning and at the same time brings about peaceful co-existence between the communities and the teachers. Meanwhile, two of the men who took part in the molestation of Madam Quarshie appeared before the Odumase-Krobo District Court on March 2, 2012. The two, Patrick Amenuwor and Joseph Nayo Tetteh-Fio, together with four others, namely, Joshua Tettey-Fio, Ezekiel Tetteh-Fio, Osei Nartey and Richard Tettey-Fio, who had earlier appeared before the same court, had been charged with assault. Ezekiel was, however, acquitted and discharged for lack of evidence. The six, who pleaded not guilty and were granted GH¢6,000 bail with a surety, will reappear before the court, presided by Mr Asmah Akwasi Asiedu, today. The suspects are said to be among a group of people in the area who demonstrated against the headmistress on January 16, this year over the poor performance of the candidates presented by the school for last year’s BECE. Giving an account of the incident to the court, a teacher of the school, Mr Michael Sabah, said on that fateful day while in the school, he had seen Amenuwor and Nayo molesting the headmistress. He said the two, who were among a group of demonstrators wearing red bands, entered the office of the headmistress, who was in her seat, and lifted her and her chair out of the office and threw her on the ground. He said while that was going, on the pupils and the teachers looked on helplessly. According to Mr Sabah, after some time, the group left, after which he, together with other teachers, sent the headmistress to hospital for treatment. Another witness, Mr Evans Nartey from nearby Volivo, corroborated the story and said he had also assisted in sending Madam Quarshie to hospital. Presenting the facts to the court at an earlier sitting, the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Emelia Ebeheakey, had said on January 16, this year, the accused persons were among a group of irate youth, numbering about 20, who marched to the school to protest against the poor performance of the pupils in the BECE. She said the accused persons, who were clad in red and singing war songs, entered the office of the headmistress, who was sitting on a chair, and carried her, together with the chair, before throwing her on the ground outside the school compound. According to the prosecutor, while the pupils wailed and other teachers pleaded for the woman to be spared, the accused persons turned on them and drove them away. Chief Inspector Ebeheakey further stated that on realising that the headmistress had sought refuge at a nearby clinic, the accused stormed the place and beat up the staff of the clinic for harbouring Madam Quarshie. She said the accused then dragged the headmistress on the floor and subjected her to severe beatings, noting that while the beatings were going on, a witness in the case filmed the act on video which was later presented to the police. A teacher of the school, Chief Inspector Ebeheakey told the court, rescued the headmistress and sent her on his bicycle to the police station to lodge a complaint, after which the accused were arrested. The headmistress, the prosecutor stated, was later sent to hospital for treatment.