By Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
Accra, Nov. 20, GNA – The National Peace Council (NPC) has educated students of O’Reilly Senior High School (SHS) on the need to be peaceful, tolerant and preserve a harmonious community that thrives.
The engagement, which was part of this year’s capacity development and advocacy initiative of the NPC in second-cycle schools, seeks to conscientise students on peaceful coexistence and nonviolent approaches to addressing grievances.
Mrs Janet Sarnay-Kuma, Director, Capacity Development and Outreach, NPC, said in recent times there had been incidents of students fighting and stabbing colleagues and even going further to fight their teachers and it was imperative that the
NPC intensified its outreach efforts.
She said the pockets of violence seen and heard in the senior high school were a threat and as an institution they were of great concern, necessitating the approach to sensitise and help them understand conflict dynamics
“We are helping them realise that violence is not the way to resolve problems and to know the threats of violence in all forms because when they fight for short or long period, they still need to sit around the table to resolve the issues,” Mrs Sarna-Kuma said.
She led the students in a discussion to identify the various forms of violence being the physical, sexual and emotional violence amongst others and how to prevent and handle them when they raised their ugly heads in school and society.
The Director urged the students to at all times promote peaceful co-existence, love one another, have respect for diversity and each other, encourage integrity and team work, exhibit loyalty and be dedicated to school and community progress.
She said they would open up peace clubs in the O’Reilly SHS and train the students to be peace ambassadors capable of resolving conflicts.
Madam Joyce Danso, Assistant Headmistress, Administration, O’Reilly SHS, commended the National Peace Council for an impactful education, adding that the sensitisation had come to augment their work of conflict resolution.
She said the education had given them a lot of insights since conflict might only arise from within the students but between the students and miscreants who had been encroaching their premises frequently and causing problems.
“The education has come to help us, given us more insights about peace making and how to resolve conflicts. The students are now equipped with strategies that would help them prevent and resolve conflicts in case they happen,” Madam Danso said.
Gideon Eric Ayiku, Boys Prefect, O’Reilly SHS, said: “This is a good exercise because in as much as we try to promote peace, some students still cause problems and so this has come to deepen our resolve to live harmoniously.”
GNA
Christian Akorlie