Child Rights International is calling for an independent school counselling and child protection oversight mechanism, along with social welfare officers in schools and a review of the Ghana Education Service (GES) code of conduct. Its Executive Director, Mr Bright Appiah, made the demand in an interview following allegations of abuse involving more than 19 female students at Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS).

Mr Appiah described the case as a systemic failure, not the act of one individual, and said the GES cannot be trusted to handle child protection issues on its own.

“The counselling unit of the Ghana Education Service should be decoupled from the Ghana Education Service and be given a status of authority, so that it can provide oversight of child welfare and protection in our schools. As it is now, the unit is part of the GES structure, and it is very difficult for it to act in the way we want to see.”
Mr Bright Appiah, Executive Director of Child Rights Protection International

Mr Appiah stated that the response must not focus on one person who allegedly committed an offence. the state needs a comprehensive system to deal with child protection, and that conclusion follows from how institutions have behaved in the past.

*Mr Bright Appiah, Executive Director of Child Rights International*

The allegations at Obuasi SHTS emerged from an investigation by JoyNews and journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni. The school’s Headmaster has since been interdicted, and a criminal investigation has been ordered.

Mr Appiah said the case shows that existing arrangements have not protected children. For that reason, the state must rethink how child protection is organised in schools so that children can enjoy their rights to protection, dignity and privacy.

Independent Oversight

Mr Appiah noted that the GES has set up various committees on child protection in schools. None has produced visible results.

“We have never seen what they have done yielding any results,” On that basis, he said, the organisation holds that the GES cannot be trusted as an institution to deal with child protection issues.

Child Rights International is therefore calling for an independent school counselling and child protection oversight mechanism. Its central proposal is to elevate the GES counselling unit to the level of an authority.

The unit is currently part of the GES structure. Mr Appiah said this limits its ability to act and to hold officers accountable. Giving it independent status, would allow it to provide effective oversight and supervision of child welfare and protection matters in schools.

He described the unit as important and critical to the management of social and child protection in schools. Its present position, he said, prevents it from doing what is expected of it.

Social Welfare Officers in Schools

The organisation also proposes that social welfare officers be integrated into basic and secondary schools. Mr Appiah said these officers have the training and skills to manage child protection cases.

He compared the proposal to hospitals, where social welfare officers are attached to facilities. The same arrangement, should apply in schools, so that child protection issues are handled in a manner that safeguards the interests of children.

“We want to see social welfare officers in our schools, just as they are attached to hospitals, so that when investigations are done, we know they are independent and we get the results we want.”
Mr Bright Appiah, Executive Director of Child Rights Protection International

Mr Appiah further urged the GES to review its code of conduct, he argue that the document gives too much attention to teachers’ welfare and to students’ misbehaviour towards teachers. It should focus more on the welfare of children and the protection of the school environment.

He stated that the code should also set out how teachers and students are expected to relate to each other, instead of mainly correcting students’ conduct.

Related Calls for Independent Action

The proposals add to calls from other groups for investigations independent of the education authorities. The think tank Eduwatch has asked for an external investigation into the Obuasi SHTS case, and for an independent nationwide audit of safeguarding systems in secondary schools.

Mr Appiah’s proposals go further, since they seek a permanent structure outside the GES. The government has yet to indicate whether it will consider an independent child protection authority or the placement of social welfare officers in schools.