The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare, has called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to introduce standardised safeguarding procedures, a sex offenders’ register and mandatory criminal background checks for teachers to address what he describes as systemic gaps in handling misconduct allegations in schools.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, October 15, Mr Asare said the absence of consistent standard operating procedures (SOPs) had contributed to uneven responses to safeguarding concerns within the education system.
His comments come after the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, directed the Ghana Education Service to suspend the headmaster of the Obuasi Senior High Technical School over allegations of sexual misconduct.
The directive from the minister follows a media report suggesting the headmaster misconducted himself sexually against a female student of Obuasi SHTS in the Ashanti Region.
He cited the case of the former headmaster of Benkum Senior High School, who he said was interdicted following an unverified allegation by a student of inappropriate advances.
According to Mr Asare, the headmaster was not found guilty but was asked to step aside and transferred to ease tensions within the school after some teachers were perceived to have supported the complainant.
He argued that clearly defined procedures were necessary to ensure allegations were handled fairly, protecting students while safeguarding the rights of accused staff.
Mr Asare also questioned the handling of concerns surrounding the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School following violence at the institution about two months earlier.
He maintained that consistent procedures would have provided a clear framework for determining the appropriate administrative response, rather than leaving matters to emerge through investigative journalism.
Describing the situation as a systemic challenge, he said the GES needed to prioritise safeguarding and establish consistent processes for addressing allegations of misconduct.
The Eduwatch director further advocated a sex offenders’ register, arguing that such a system could help education authorities identify individuals with relevant histories.
He suggested that, had such a register existed, the Obuasi SHTS headmaster would have been recorded following an earlier case in Toase.
He also called for mandatory criminal background checks for prospective teachers, noting that several jurisdictions had adopted the practice and that Nigeria had begun introducing similar measures.
Mr Asare said Eduwatch had been calling for these reforms for years, stressing that stronger institutional safeguards were necessary to prevent misconduct and improve accountability in schools.