Student assault: GNAT questions rationale behind suspension of Adisadel housemaster

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has condemned the abuse of a student by his colleague at Adisadel College in the Central Region.

In a viral video, the abuser is seen choking his victim in the dormitory.

The video which has been circulating on social media has sparked outrage and raised concerns about the safety of students within the country’s educational institutions.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has already backed actions taken by the management of the school which include, the suspension of the perpetrator and other students.

But the General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Musah in an interview on Morning Starr on Starr FM said the absence of a standardized code of conduct in senior high schools is largely contributing to indiscipline.

“It is now that we are developing a new one (code of conduct), there is a code of conduct for teachers. Currently, what we have is that if you go to each school, each school has its own rules. So, for example, if you go to Adisadel College, Adisadel has its own rules, if you go to Mfantsipim, the school has its own rules, if you go to Wesley Girls, they have their own rules and that is where the challenge is.

“If Adisadel College goes and applies a certain rule, then the GES can on one hand call that particular rule into question. When something goes wrong, you (teachers) can be called to question and because of that the Headmasters and Teachers in the individual schools are sometimes scared when these matters are coming up because they ought to be careful that they don’t fall foul of the law for somebody to call them to question. It is now that a general code of conduct is being developed.”

The GNAT General Secretary also criticized the Adisadel School authorities to relieve the Housemaster of the House of his duties.

“If students have engaged in something, you have not asked the Headmaster anything and then you go ahead interdict him, that is the challenge we have with the Ghana Education Service. Anytime there is a case involving a teacher, they interdict the person, it is becoming like a cliché, we have difficulty in the way the rules are applied. At this particular stage, we believe that we need to engage and bring to the attention of the Ghana Education Service that the rate at which teachers are interdicted and asked to step aside has gotten to alarming proportions which ought to stop. In this particular case, there is no evidence that the Headmaster engaged in negligence and the Housemaster cannot be everywhere the students are. The Housemaster is not a God who we can say that where two or three are gathered He is there. It is only God.”