Father of 3-year-old who ate faeces of another sues St. Peter’s Cambridge School for negligence

A father of 3-year-old boy who was allegedly neglected by school authorities at the St. Peter’s Cambridge School, Takoradi, has sued the school for its negligence.

According to Astu Charan Kamal Kanta Kole, father of the boy, he took his son to the school because he was of the understanding that it was a top-grade school with a ratio of not more than 10 pupils to one teacher.

This notwithstanding, he said he got the shock of his life when the teachers allegedly left his boy unattended to on several occasions, one of which led to him stepping into faeces of another child.

Astu told GhanaWeb that his boy eventually ate the said faeces.

“Despite the supposed top-grade school, my son, aged 3 years, was left unattended to by the teacher on several occasions, leading him to step into the faeces of another child to the extent that my son ate the said faeces,” Astu told GhanaWeb.

In the copies of the writ filed at the Sekondi Circuit Court, Astu Kole also indicated that it was not the first time he had noticed such a thing with his boy.

“The 2nd plaintiff says that on a few occasions he detected a number of abandonment of duties on the part of the teachers towards the 1st plaintiff and complained about same but let it pass as a one-off incident.

“On or about the 1st day of October, 2021, when the 2nd plaintiff picked up the 1st plaintiff from school, he detected that there were faeces on his feet and hands so he assumed that the infant had eased himself and the teachers had failed to change his diapers,” the writ said in part.

The situation escalated when the 3-year-old boy started developing a fever, and which worsened later in the night.

Astu said he had to eventually call his doctor in Accra who advised that he brought the boy for examination.

“The doctor examined the infant and after carrying out various tests detected that he had an infection caused by the intake of faecal bacteria.

“The 2nd plaintiff confronted the defendant authority who initially attempted to rebuff his complaints but upon persistent pressure from him and his insistence to see the footage from the school’s CCT cameras, they admitted they had erred and promised to dismiss the errant teacher,” the writ added.

The school also pledged to take the full cost of medical bills to do with the infant.

Not satisfied with the lukewarm attitude of the school, Astu Charan Kamal Kanta Kole instituted action at the law courts claiming damages for negligence.

The school has since entered an appearance to the action and has filed a statement of defence, denying most of the averments of the plaintiff, although they admit the infant got ill and for which reason, they dismissed the ‘negligent’ teacher.

A date for the hearing of the case is yet to be determined.