The Bolgatanga Technical Institute (BOLTECH) has been closed down indefinitely after violent clashes by students in the early hours of Friday, August 15, 2025.
The riots erupted around 1:00 am when aggrieved students vandalised property in protest against the suspension of five colleagues for defying a directive banning unprescribed uniforms on campus.
According to reports, the students initially plotted to attack the Senior Housemaster on Thursday evening, accusing him of orchestrating the suspensions.
Although teachers foiled the attempt, the students regrouped later, switched off power on campus, destroyed meter boards, and torched the Senior Housemaster’s quarters.
The school library was also set ablaze, with damages estimated in millions of Ghana cedis.
Security officers were overwhelmed during the rampage. Mr Prince Amalkum, a school security guard, said he narrowly escaped after scaling the wall while students closed in on him.
“They destroyed my motorking, which belongs to my brother. I don’t know how to explain this to him,” he lamented.
Principal of BOLTECH, Mr Zachary Yorose, described the development as “highly baffling,” noting that campus had been peaceful over the past year.
He explained that the uniform directive was meant to help authorities identify suspicious outsiders, following intelligence about threats linked to violence in Bawku.
Police have since taken over the school, while a crisis meeting between the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Donatus Akamugri, is expected to decide the fate of the students.
The incident mirrors a recent violent clash at Zuarungu Senior High School, which led to a temporary shutdown and heavy levies on students.
BOLTECH, however, has a long history of violent unrest, with staff often targeted during such incidents
BY FRANCIS DABRE DANBANG