Registration process creates long queues at Achimota SHS

There was chaos on the compound of the Achimota School on Monday, when parents gathered to register their children who have secured admission to the school.
As of midday when the Daily Graphic got to the school, hundreds of students were spotted in long queues trying to go through the required procedure to enable them to begin school next week.

There was frustration written on the faces of most parents who were obviously not satisfied with the slow procedure but had no choice but to bear with the situation.

Although there was a policeman on hand to ensure orderliness, most parents could not withstand the frustration as most of them could be seen venting their anger on the authorities.

A parent, Mr Chris Kumassah, who narrated his ordeal to the Daily Graphic said, he had been at the school since 8 a.m.

He lamented the cumbersome process parents and students had to go through and attributed the problem to lack of adequate preparation on the part of the school administration to ensure a smooth procedure for registration.

“ I believe they are just trying to ensure people with fake documents are not admitted and that is making the process very tedious but all the same, they should have allowed more personnel to handle the job instead of leaving it in the hands of some few people.” he said.

“When I got here, there were no signage around to facilitate the process to enable parents know where they were supposed to pay, register and follow the necessary procedure,” he added.

“I believe the situation could have been handled better than what we are witnessing now,” he complained.

However, the headmistress of the school, Ms Beatrice Adom, in an interview with the Daily Graphic said the school had put in place adequate measures to ensure a smooth process of admitting prospective students.

According to her, enough measures had been put in place to ensure a smooth registration for the 900 prospective students posted to the school.

“ We have instructed the security men right from the gate to ensure that vehicles that come into the school are properly packed because we anticipated that there would be huge numbers on the school premises” she said .

“Our bursar was here as early as 6 a.m to begin work, adding that most of the parents had started trooping into the school as early as 6 a.m. Although I understand the frustration on the part of parents who have travelled long distances to ensure their children are registered, we still have to ensure things are done properly” she added.

As of 1:30 p.m when the Daily Graphic left the school premises, there had been no recorded incident of anyone attempting to register with a fake document to gain admission into the school.

The Daily Graphic gathered later that the situation on the school compound became normal around 5.00 p.m as most of the parents had been attended to.

By Fred Dzakpata & Daniel Agbenyegah