Establish national committee to probe abuse of girls in schools - NGO tells GES

Plan Ghana’s Girls Advocacy Alliance is calling on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to establish a national committee to investigate the alleged abuse of girls in schools by teachers.

Citing the recent incident at the Ejisuman Senior High School, the alliance noted the abuse is widespread and requires a national plan to tackle.

“The investigation at the Ejisuman SHS was a good move but obviously it’s not enough. GES should set up a national committee to thoroughly investigate the widespread concern of sexual abuse of girls in schools," Project Manager at the Alliance, Anna Nabere said.

She believes it would enable the Service to "make more holistic recommendations on how they can be stopped once and for all.” 

Earlier this year, over ten female students at the Ejisuman SHS claimed they were forced by some of the teachers to perform various sexual acts on them leading to the interdiction of 9 teachers.

This caused the Ghana Education Service to establish a seven-member committee to investigate the issue which submitted its report in April 2018.

Related: Ejisuman SHS scandal: Eight teachers guilty of ‘sexual harassment’ – Report

Citing a litany of abuses against girls by teachers in schools across the country, the GAA said that case “represents just a tip of the iceberg. Sexual abuse against girls happens right from basic schools through to the Senior High level and even in the universities.”

Ejisuman SHS entrance

Anna Nabere warned such abuses usually have dire consequences on girls which they struggle to recover from.

“It damages their self-confidence, sometimes it results in them suffering lingering life conditions around their reproductive organs, sometimes they get infected by sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, they sometimes get pregnant as a result thereby cutting short their education, and the list goes on and on,” she added.

The group called for the strengthening of the supervisory role of educational authorities in schools so that such concerns can be dealt with rapidly and the perpetrators brought to book.

It called for the equipping of the Guidance and Counselling units in various schools with well qualified and trusted personnel to adequately educate girls on how they can avoid falling prey to such circumstances.

“Clear reporting channels outside the local school structure should also be established to allow for independent investigations into some of these allegations when they come up to ensure justice,” the group said.

“The security agencies should step up their efforts in helping fight this canker by proactively and in a timeous manner dealing with such cases from the level of the police to the judiciary to serve as a deterrent to those who engage in it,” the statement added.

The Girls Advocacy Alliance is a Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded initiative working to better the lives of women and girls and ensure the provision of equal opportunities for them.

 

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