Editorial
Addressing school authorities -students relationship important
Dear Editor
The behaviour of the Assistant Headmaster of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Senior High School who was recently dismissed by the Ghana Education Service (GES) for fondling a female student should serve as a wake up call for stakeholders in our education sector.
Although I find what transpired between him and the student that was captured on video unfortunate, I am of the view that the decision taken by the GES was a good one.
However, I believe that the incident that led to the dismissal of the Assistant Headmaster is one of many of such incidents that happens in our junior and senior high schools and have not been taken notice of.
There are instances where some female students complain about issues such as sexual harassment by their teachers and headmasters but no action had been taken.
My question then is, for how long should we wait for videos of such incidents to go viral before an action is taken?
I think it is about time that the GES collaborates with key stakeholders in the educational sector, including Parents Teacher Associations (PTA), school authorities, and civil society organisations to address such issues.
It will be important for appropriate measures such as strict monitoring of the relationship between students and school authorities.
Secondly, young learners must be empowered to report such incidents to school authorities. Sometimes, they go unreported because the children fear they might be victimised.
Establishing these kind of measures would not only help address the issue but also protect the mental health of students who suffer from these harassment from their teachers and school authorities or even seniors.
Instead, the headmistress/headmasters and teachers should advise the children on why they were in the school first.
Raising the children is first and foremost a key responsibility of parents but we also understand that these children spends more time in the school environment than the home, except the weekends.
That places a huge responsibility on them as trained teachers to help in shaping the lives of these learners.
Abraham Moore,
Ekumfi
Dear Editor
I wish to use your esteemed platform to welcome Mr Carlos Queiroz, our new coach for our senior national male football team, the Black Stars.
We have read a lot about him and I think looking at his CV, he represents our biggest ‘catch’ in this business.
When his name came up initially, some of us doubted whether we could land him considering our scarce resources.
A coach with experiences with Real Madrid, Manchester United at club sides and national team romance with South Africa and Iran speaks volumes of what he brings to the table.
However, we must not forget that CVs don’t play football. Football is played on the pitch and it is therefore the reason why the noise about his arrival must end and watch out for what he brings to the table.
Currently, we don’t have players we could call world class. Those that comes near that label like Mohammed Kudus and Mohammed Salisu are injured.
The only player making waves in Europe at the moment is Antoine Semenyo of Manchester City.
Carlos Queiroz is not coming as a magician. He would need players who are committed and very good enough. At this moment, we should be praying and supporting him to get the best out of our players.
Directly, I want to appeal to him to take a serious look at the players in individually and access their qualities before bringing them on board.
Some of the players are very good but have just failed or struggled to perform in the Black Stars jersey. One of his task must be to break that ice.
We need nothing bust the best for the World Cup. As Ghanaians let’s support Queiroz to get the best out of the players available.
Andy Muller,
Accra
Dear Editor,
The visit of the president, John Dramani Mahama to the construction site of the La General Hospital was one that provided hope for Ghanaians, especially those within the La and Osu areas.
The project was started under the previous administration but grinded to a halt. Several demonstrations were carried out in a bid to get government to speed up work on the facility.
When this new government took over, that cloud of uncertainty persisted owing to how projects started by a particular government were abandoned by incumbents.
But we have seen something different this time. The government of John Dramani Mahama has shown commitment to complete the project.
The crowd that gathered on his inspection of works on the project clearly speaks of how important the project is for them.
It is my prayer they speed up work on the facility and complete it on time for the people to travel shorter distance to access healthcare.
Atswei Rosalind,
La
