Asantehene Wants Regulations On Mobile Phone Use In Schools Enforced

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, on Saturday bemoaned the indiscriminate use of mobile phones by students in second-cycle institutions in the country. He observed that “The rampant use of mobile phones among students in second-cycle institutions is a great worry as most of them engage in free night calls and sleep during the day when classes are in progress.” Otumfuo Osei Tutu said this development could have a long-term negative effect on the students’ examination results and educational development. The Asantehene said these in a speech read on his behalf at the silver jubilee celebration of the Dadease Agricultural Senior High School, Dadease in the Sekyere-Afram Plains District, on the theme “Equal Opportunities and Self-Confidence is Equal to Excellence.” He tasked school authorities to enforce the Ghana Education Service (GES) regulation on the use of mobile phones on campuses to the letter to help improve the situation. Otumfuo Osei Tutu reminded students that they constituted an important component of the nation’s human resource base and should concentrate on their studies to justify the investment being made in their education. The Asantehene asked the students against drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, indecent dressing and examination malpractices. He gave the assurance that he would include Dadease Agricultural Senior High School in the list of schools benefiting from the Otumfuo Education Fund in view of the many challenges facing the school. Mrs Belinda Serwaa Addo, Ashanti Regional Director of Education, advised teachers to abide by the code of ethics of the teaching profession in the discharge of their duties. Mr Paul Dwobeng, headmaster of the school, said the population of the school had increased from 86 in 2002 to 736 in 2008, saying in spite of the fact that the school was under-resourced it had made modest gains in its examination results over the years.