GES to ban teachers from sending students to bungalows for chores following Obuasi SHTS scandal

The Ghana Education Service (GES) is stepping up measures to safeguard students in boarding institutions, announcing a nationwide clampdown on teachers who assign household chores to pupils in their private residences. 

Director-General of the GES, Professor Ernest Kofi Davis, disclosed that the service will formally instruct regional directors to enforce existing regulations barring educators from inviting students to their bungalows for domestic tasks. 

The policy enforcement comes in the wake of a shocking scandal at Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), where the headmaster, Zakaria Abdulai, is facing severe allegations of raping 19 students. 

Investigations and public outcry surrounding the case have highlighted how informal access to teachers' quarters can expose vulnerable students to abuse. 

Speaking on the issue, Professor Davis strongly condemned the practice, noting that it violates established professional guidelines. 

He specifically pointed to Section 3.7 (V) of the service's code of conduct, which explicitly forbids teachers from involving students in domestic duties. 

“I agree with those calling for a ban on students going to teachers’ bungalows. We are going to write to schools to make sure that it doesn’t happen because in our code of conduct, in Section 3.7 (V), it is written that the students are not expected to be asked to engage in household chores,” 

Professor Davis stated. He added that formal directives would be dispatched immediately to all regional directors to ensure strict compliance and to remind staff of their professional boundaries. 

“And so I expect the news to get to all regional directors to remind our staff to familiarize themselves with the code of conduct and cease inviting students to do household chores because the code of conduct does not permit that. It is not acceptable,” he emphasized. 

The GES hopes that strictly cutting off informal student access to teachers' living quarters will eliminate gray areas exploited by predatory staff and restore safety across second-cycle institutions.