The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Coalition of Concern Teachers, Ghana (CCT), have sounded an alarm on the growing indiscipline in Senior High Schools (SHS) nationwide and called for urgent redress of the issue.
They said recent reports of indiscipline and violence in some SHSs were alarming and required immediate attention from stakeholders.
Mr Prosper Agbeli, the Chairman, Akatsi South Municipal GNAT, in the Volta Region, in a phone-in interview with the Ghana News Agency, emphasised that the growing indiscipline in some SHSs in the country was a threat to the educational system and the future of the youth.
“We are calling on the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, and other stakeholders to take immediate action to address the issue before it escalates into a real war in our schools,” he said.
He said that GNAT has over 200,000 professional members across all levels in the pre-tertiary education sector with a proven track record of advocating for the welfare of teachers and students and their voice should carry significant weight in the education sector.
He said recent incidents of violence and indiscipline in some SHSs have raised eyebrows, and there was a growing consensus that something needed to be done immediately to curb further damage and injuries.
“We all have a responsibility in this situation, parents and guardians are also to play a more active role in instilling discipline in children. It is essential for academic excellence and development of youth, and therefore, all hands must be on deck to address the growing indiscipline in challenges in all second circle institutions”.
Mr Ephraim Dodzi Jumpah, the Southern Volta Regional Vice Chairman of CCT, also told the GNA that government and Ghana Education Service (GES) should support and implement better disciplinary codes to guard the behaviour of all students.
He advised that corporal punishment which included canning and other means of disciplining or correcting behaviours should be reintroduced into the schools to guard students for successful future.
He said that “we must be very careful the way we introduce foreign cultures into ours, this is Africa, corporal punishment is often used in schools, homes, and other institutions to punish children or adult for misbehaviour or breaking rules, it never kills”.
Meanwhile, there have been some disturbing incidents of violence clashes in Senior High Schools in recent time which include a supposed peace ceremony between Bawku SHS and Bawku Technical Institute which turned into violence with at least five students injured on Tuesday, February 25.
Also, twenty students were reportedly arrested after a fight broke out in Salaga SHS leaving one student with multiple stab wounds whilst three others were fined GHS 1,200 each by Salaga magistrate court after they were arrested.
In the Volta Region, Sokode SHS was closed down after a violent clash between students and residents of the town, leaving more than 10 people injured.
Source: GNA
