Why Ghana must criminalise sexual relationships between teachers and students
By Alex Annan Abakah
Accra, June 20, GNA – Every time a parent watches a child walk through a school gate, there is an unspoken expectation: that the child will return home safer, wiser, and better prepared for the future.
That expectation is shattered when the very people entrusted to educate and protect children become the ones who exploit them.
A teacher who engages in a sexual relationship with a student does more than violate professional ethics. He destroys trust, abuses power, undermines education, and inflicts wounds that may last a lifetime. Such conduct transforms a place of learning into one of fear and vulnerability.
Across Ghana, reports of teachers engaging in sexual relationships with students continue to emerge from junior high schools (JHS), senior high schools (SHS), and even tertiary institutions.
While some incidents attract national outrage and media attention, many more remain hidden beneath layers of fear, shame, intimidation, and silence.
A recent case that sparked public anger involved a teacher at Bole SHS in the Savanna Region, who was captured in a viral video allegedly engaging in sexual misconduct with a female student. The Ghana Education Service (GES) responded by interdicting the teacher pending investigations—a pattern seen in many such cases.
While interdiction may be an appropriate administrative response, the country must now confront a difficult but necessary question: why are teachers who engage in sexual relationships with their students often treated primarily as disciplinary offenders rather than criminal offenders?
Consent is not the issue
Whenever these cases arise, a familiar argument emerges—some claim the student willingly participated, while others suggest the student initiated the interaction.
These arguments miss the point
The issue is not whether the student appeared willing, but whether a teacher should ever be allowed to engage in a sexual relationship with a student under his authority. The answer must be an unequivocal no.
Teachers exercise enormous influence over students’ academic lives. They assign grades, supervise examinations, write recommendations, and often shape disciplinary and classroom outcomes. Because of this imbalance of power, any sexual relationship between a teacher and a student is inherently exploitative and can never be genuinely equal.
Students are victims, not offenders
One of the most damaging responses to these incidents is the tendency to label affected students as immoral or promiscuous. This attitude is both unfair and dangerous.
Adolescents are still developing emotionally and psychologically and are often vulnerable to manipulation by adults they trust or admire. Even where a student appears willing, the responsibility lies with the adult who holds the position of authority.
Many students involved in such relationships are seeking approval, mentorship, emotional support, or academic assistance—normal needs that exploitative adults manipulate for personal gain.
Blaming the student deepens trauma and discourages reporting, shifting attention away from the offender and onto the child who should be protected.
A threat to education and society
Sexual exploitation by teachers harms not only individual victims but also the broader educational system.
Affected students often experience anxiety, depression, loss of self-esteem, and emotional distress, leading to declining academic performance, absenteeism, or even school dropout. Families suffer emotional strain, and communities lose trust in educational institutions.
Ultimately, society bears the cost when young people are denied the opportunity to realise their full potential.
Policies exist, but are not enough
The GES has established codes of conduct prohibiting sexual relationships between teachers and students, classifying such behaviour as serious misconduct.
The Ministry of Education has also introduced learner protection policies.
However, the persistence of these cases shows that policy alone is insufficient.
When a teacher is merely interdicted, suspended, or dismissed, the message conveyed is that the offence is primarily a workplace violation. In reality, it is an abuse of authority, a breach of trust, and, in many instances, a criminal act under existing laws—particularly where minors are involved.
The role of responsible teachers
Many Ghanaian teachers are dedicated professionals committed to shaping the nation’s future. For this reason, they must not remain silent when colleagues engage in misconduct.
Silence protects offenders, endangers students, and damages the profession. Teachers who witness or suspect inappropriate conduct have a moral and professional obligation to report it.
Protecting children must always take precedence over protecting colleagues.
Why interdiction is not enough
Interdiction is a temporary administrative measure. It removes a teacher from duty during investigations, but it is not a punishment, nor does it provide a strong deterrent.
More importantly, it does not adequately address the broader societal harm caused by such abuse.
Parents begin to question the safety of schools, and students lose trust in authority figures. Administrative sanctions alone cannot resolve this crisis.
A call for stronger laws
Ghana’s Parliament must consider legislation specifically criminalising sexual relationships between teachers and students where authority or supervision exists.
Such a law should apply across all levels—JHS, SHS, TVET institutions, and tertiary education—and cover teachers, lecturers, teaching assistants, and school administrators.
The law should provide for criminal prosecution, fines, imprisonment where appropriate, permanent bans from teaching, and inclusion in a national misconduct registry.
The goal is not only to punish offenders but also to send a strong message that exploitation under the guise of education will not be tolerated.
Protecting victims
Underreporting remains a major challenge. Many students fear retaliation, stigma, or disbelief.
The Government must establish confidential reporting systems in schools and universities, alongside counselling services, legal support, and protection mechanisms for victims.
Without strong safeguards, many abuses will remain hidden.
Conclusion
Ghana has reached a point where administrative sanctions are no longer enough. The recurring reports of teacher-student sexual relationships show that existing measures have failed to provide adequate deterrence.
Parents, educators, traditional and religious leaders, civil society, and the wider public must unite to condemn and confront such conduct.
Ghana must become a society where predatory teachers are exposed, prosecuted, and permanently removed from positions of authority.
Children deserve defenders, not predators. A nation that values education must protect the students who make education possible. Anything less is a betrayal of our collective responsibility to the next generation.
GNA
Edited by Lydia Kukua Asamoah
Alex Annan Abakah is Professor of Finance at Bentley University, USA.