Adviser on Gender and Social Protection to former Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Akosua Manu, has called for a proper national child protection framework to safeguard pupils who suffer sexual abuse in schools.
She said Ghana needs a clear system through which children can report abuse, receive protection and seek justice without fear of exposure or intimidation.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, October 17, during a discussion on sexual abuse allegations involving the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), Ms Manu said the current arrangements did not adequately protect children who reported such cases.
“So, fundamentally, there’s no protection for these girls, for these children in the schools,” she said.
She said that a national framework should establish safe and confidential reporting channels to ensure that children are protected and their concerns handled with the seriousness they deserve.
“I would think to cure the problem, there should be a framework, a national protection framework, safeguarding these girls, where reports of such cases go to, that there should be a channel where you report to, where you get protected, where your name or where your form or whatever is hidden,” she said.
Ms Manu said that the system must put the welfare of the child first, particularly when the alleged abuse involves someone in a position of authority within a school.
“It should be such that the child is prioritised,” she added.
Ms Manu also raised concerns about situations in which children are expected to report abuse to the same school authorities they accuse of misconduct.
She said such arrangements could discourage victims from speaking out, especially when they fear that their complaints may not be handled fairly.
“But I believe fundamentally a child should not have to seek justice from the same authorities that they’re accusing of abuse,” she said.
Ms Manu referred to a News card shared by JoyNews which stated that six headteachers had allegedly sexually assaulted girls in their schools since 2025.
She said the reported cases raised serious concerns about the effectiveness of existing measures to protect pupils and called for urgent policy action.
“You can imagine the number of girls that have gone through this,” she said.
“And you can imagine the ones that are under-reported. It is a national crisis,” she added, referring to the reported cases.
The allegations against the Obuasi SHTS headmaster have not, in the details provided, been established as proven findings. Ms Manu’s call for reforms centres on ensuring that allegations of abuse are reported safely and investigated properly, while protecting children from further harm.
She called for a policy that would make children feel comfortable reporting abuse and confident that their complaints would be handled appropriately.
“We need to put a policy in place that makes kids comfortable,” she said.
“The last place a child should not feel safe should not be a school. At least, at the very least, from home to school, they should feel safe,” she added.