By Jesse Ampah Owusu
Accra, Feb. 05, GNA – Mr William Boadi, the Executive Director of Educate Africa Institute, a non-partisan Think Tank promoting quality education, says the misconduct and vigilantism by political party activists is a major contributor to the growing students’ indiscipline.
The situation where respectable persons, seen as role models, used insulting words and engaged in violence influenced students to act likewise in school, whenever they had disagreements with their classmates.
Mr Boadi said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in reaction to a viral video of an Accra Academy student being assaulted by his senior with a machete.
He said the banning of corporal punishment had also given rights to some students, especially those in senior high school, to misbehave and break school rules and regulations with impunity.
Though he was not against the ban, he said he expected appropriate alternative measures to be put in place to ensure compliance, discipline and respect for authority.
Mr Boadi called for a comprehensive stakeholder engagement to develop effective strategies to tackle indiscipline, including input from parents, civil society organisations, and school heads.
That required a multi-faceted approach, to deepen collaboration between the Government, school authorities, parents, and students in addressing the challenge.
“To address the growing student indiscipline in schools, a comprehensive approach should be adopted, including enforcement of rules, open communication with students, and collaboration with parents and school administration to identify and address root causes of improper behaviours,” he added.
Meanwhile, the management of the Accra Academy Senior High School has handed over a viral video containing a student flogging his colleague with a machete to the police and suspended all four students in the video.
This was contained in a press release from the school’s management which sought to address the concerns of parents and the public on the matter.
The incident occurred nearly two weeks ago on January 17, 2024, but was not reported to the authorities until the video surfaced on social media.
The statement noted that the students involved were all day students and had been asked to stay away from the school pending further investigation.
A parent whose ward was among the affected students called on the school authorities to act decisively to avoid future occurrences.
The parent, who pleaded anonymity, said some of the seniors were abusing their juniors because they seemed to willed some powers over them.
He called on the school authorities to sanction senior students who assaulted and bullied their juniors in the name of guiding and training them.
GNA