The National Coordinator of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), Bernice Mpere-Gyekye, has called on the Ghana Education Service and school authorities to urgently implement strong safeguarding and child protection policies in schools to protect learners.
She described as worrying the recent spate of sexual abuse and harassment cases reported in some Senior High Schools across the country.
“It’s worrying what’s happening in the schools now,” she lamented.
Speaking in an interview with Adom TV on the back of recent sexual abuse and harassment scandals in various second-cycle institutions, Madam Mpere-Gyekye stressed that the primary duty of teachers and non-teaching staff is to protect children, not to exploit them.
“Teachers and staff are to protect children and not to abuse them,” she said.
She called on the Ministry of Education, the GES and Boards of second-cycle schools to go beyond lip service and ensure that every school has a functional, well-publicized child protection and safeguarding policy, reporting channels, and swift sanctions for perpetrators.
According to her, many schools still lack clear policies, making it difficult for victims to report and for authorities to act decisively, a situation that emboldens abusers.
Her comments come amid public outrage over alleged sexual misconduct involving teachers and students in some SHSs, which has renewed calls for stricter regulation and accountability in schools.
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