President’s Intervention In Chiana SHS Students’ Dismissal Is interference With GES – EduWatch

President’s Intervention In Chiana SHS Students’ Dismissal Is interference With GES – EduWatch

Education Specialist and Program Evaluator, Mr. Divine Kpe, has responded on behalf of Africa Education Watch to describe President Akufo-Addo’s intervention to find other forms of punishment instead of dismissal of the eight Chiana SHS students  who used vulgar language on him (president) as an interference with the work of the Ghana Education Service.

The Senior Programmes Officer of the organisation, said the regulatory institution must be given the autonomous responsibility to operate as a body. 

He added management of Chiana SHS and relevant institutions must be allowed to exact appropriate sanctions to students who fall foul to regulations, which will serve as examples to others.

“Look at the spate of indiscipline in our schools. Teachers feel that their power to discipline students has been taken away from them by the introduction of positive discipline tools. They feel like now even if we discipline students, authorities could come in to plead or reverse the decision and therefore they don’t want to do it anymore. Whatever students are doing, they are being left on their own to continue. We don’t want to encourage that so if the code of discipline which spells out the disciplinary outcome is followed and a decision is arrived at if there’s anything that must be done, we must use internal structures to appeal the process for a reversal and not as we’ve seen the President calling to direct that the GES reverses the decision.

“We should not be seeing political interference in the decisions of schools. We must get to a point where when schools take a decision and it is consistent with the school’s code of conduct and there has to be any change, we’ll use the internal structures to appeal a reversal,” starrfm.com.gh quotes Divine Kpe as saying.

Following the President’s directive on Friday, January 13, 2023, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum has directed the Ghana Education Service to take a second  look at the disciplinary action taken against indiscipline students.