“A significant part of the reasons for which gross indiscipline is on high records in schools”.
Murder Case at KOSS
Reports indicate that five form 2 students of the Konongo Odumasi Senior High School (KOSS) in the Asante Akyem South District in the Ashanti Region are in the grip of the police for their involvement in the death of 17-year-old Larhan Sam-una, a Form One student of the school.
The Konongo District Court, in the Ashanti Region, has remanded five accused persons arrested in connection with the death of the first-year male student of the Konongo-Odumase Senior High School. Two of the accused persons are 16 years, while the three others are 17 years.
The suspects have been sent to a Juvenile Detention Center at Juaso in the Asante Akim South Municipality to reappear on 15th November 2021. The court presided over by Her Worship Joyce Bamfo has referred the matter to the supervising High Court Judge to ensure due processes are followed because of the ages of the accused persons.
While the first accused person has been charged provisionally with murder, the four others were charged with abetment to commit a crime. The suspects have been sent to a Juvenile Detention Center at Juaso in the Asante Akim South Municipality to reappear on 15th November 2021.
Who to Blame
The spate of indiscipline among students in Ghana is getting worrying. Indiscipline has so crept into schools that teachers, parents, the government and all concerned educational stakeholders need to consider it needful to rise immediately and take the necessary actions to curb the menace.
Although blame-game is definitely not the way to go, it is equally important to know the source of the indiscipline so that the issue can be dealt with from the appropriate context and perspective.
The first point of call, in terms of discipline in schools, is the teacher. The teacher is supposed to serve as a parent to the student and, among others, discipline them when the need be.
However, the teacher draws his authority from his employer, the Government. It is the government who determines the power, or the extent to which the teacher can express their power.
Given the fact that caning, and general capital punishment, is infringed upon by the Ghana Education Service, most teachers feel their authority is questioned, shaky, and, to a large extent, taken away from them. Additionally, the fact that a student can no longer be sacked, suspended or repeated to serve as deterrent to others, have all made the teacher’s authority a white elephant.
The average Ghanaian student today is aware that a teacher cannot really punish them. And even if they do, they (the student) reserve every right to refuse to comply. To avoid any harassments, teachers therefore generally look on unconcerned when students misbehave. A significant part of the reasons for which gross indiscipline is on high records in schools.
Writer: Counsellor Daniel Fenyi
Member, Ghana National Association of Certificated Counsellors
