The 8 Chiana Senior High School students from the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region who insulted President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo were dismissed from school, but the Minority in Parliament has requested the Ghana Education Service (GES) to rethink that decision.
The Minority said that despite its opposition to and condemnation of student wrongdoing, the GES’s decision was harsh and backward.
Her behavior was “considered very undesirable and contrary to the acceptable standards of conduct generally required of any student in our Educational system in Ghana,” the GES wrote in a letter to the parents of one of the students.
In a statement in response to the revelation, the Minority said: “We believe the eight students deserve to be in school, just like every other Ghanaian child, in accordance with Article 25 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and also Goal(4) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
“It is in view of this, that we wish to call on the Ghana Education Service to review its decision and to ensure that the education of the victims is not truncated in this manner. We are also by this statement, urging the GES to proffer an alternative but corrective punishment to the eight students.”
“The Minority wishes to appeal to His Excellency the President, to use his good offices to pardon these students as he did in 2020 when a group of some students misconducted themselves towards him” the statement added.
Read the full statement below:
MINORITY REACTS TO THE DISMISSAL OF EIGHT SHS STUDENTS BY GES FOR INSULTING PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO
In this age and time when there is increased advocacy and renewed focus on increasing access to education any decision that takes a child away from the classroom can only be seen as an absolute drawback to this renewed focus and objective.
It is therefore, regrettable to learn of the decision of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to dismiss the eight female students of the Chiana SHS in the Kassena Nankana West District of the Upper East region for insulting the President of the Republic some months ago.
Whereas the Minority is against the misconduct of the eight students, and condemns same, we wish to state that the decision by the GES to dismiss them is harsh and retrogressive.
We believe the eight students like every other Ghanaian child deserve to be in school in line with Article 25 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and also Goal(4) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
It is in view of this, that we wish to call on the Ghana Education Service to review its decision and to ensure that the education of the victims is not truncated in this manner.
We are also by this statement, urging the GES to proffer an alternative but corrective punishment to the eight students.
This we believe would be in the best interest of our collective goal to ensuring that every Ghanaian child has access to formal education.
In conclusion, the Minority wishes to appeal to His Excellency the President, to use his good offices to pardon these students as he did in 2020 when a group of some students misconducted themselves towards him.
Signed:
Peter Nortsu-Kotoe (MP)
Ranking Member
Parliament’s Education Committee
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com/Louis Gyamerah