Child Rights Organizations Condemn Sacking Of Sex-talking Ejisuman SHS Girls

Some Child rights organizations are condemning the decision by the Ghana Education Service (GSE)  and the Management of the Ejisuman Senior High School, to “de-boardenize” students who were captured in a video talking dirty and engaging in sexual innuendos.
 
According to the Africa Education Watch, the sanction is a rather careless one that exposes the hapless adolescent girls to more delinquency and potential social harm.
 
“Punishing girls by sacking them from boarding schools only places them in hostels without any parental or school control. This exposes them to further delinquency and harm from society,” a six bullet statement responding to the development notes.
 
It adds further that a positive discipline strategy would rather reform the offending students instead of this heavy-handedness that exposes them to even higher levels of truancy.
 
The Africa Education Watch position has been supported by another child rights organization, Child Rights International. Its executive Director, Bright Appiah makes the point that the GES has missed a fine opportunity to help the students with something, they may be struggling with.
 
“What they have done is just a by-product, you are just seeing things that are going on in their lives, things that have built up in their lives and they are showcasing a bit of it. But it is your responsibility to dig further to know what exactly is making the children to behave the way they are behaving and that is what institutions are mandated to do. But the school environment is a constitutional right of every child and nobody has the right to change it whatsoever.
 
“The fact that they have published the names of the children shows they have disrespected the children.”
 
The Ejisuman SHS de-boardenized seven female students who had been captured in a video engaged in risqué sex talk while engaging in sexual innuendos. The school had handed down the punishment with the consent of the GES.
 
According to managers of the school, parents of the seven students had also agreed toi the expulsion.
 
However, the child rights organizations say the punishment is rather counterproductive.
 
Meanwhile, it would be recalled that the same Ejisuman Senior High School was two years ago in the news over sexual truancy and misconduct that involved teachers. Following the leakage of a secret sex video, some students had come forward and testified that their teachers had been taking advantage of them.
 
In one graphical testimony, one girl said a teacher had forced her to stroke his manhood until he ejaculated as punishment for an offence on campus.
 
The scandal had led to the sanctioning of eight teachers, with– Isaac Amponsah, Moses Asmah, M. Osei, and Andrews Adu Asare sacked by the Ghana Education Service.
 
Four others, including an accountant, were, however, transferred from the school.