Education Director worried about high level of indiscipline in schools

Mr. Kofi Sarfo Kantanka, Ashanti Regional Director of Education, has bemoaned the high level of indiscipline among students in second cycle institutions in the region.

Indiscipline and student unrest in schools, according to him, have reached levels that were not only very disturbing, but also threatening the moral standard of the society.

Mr. Sarfo Kantanka cited a case where some students from two senior high schools in the region have been arrested by the police for their alleged involvement in armed robbery, and said it points to the level of threat society faced as a result of indiscipline among young people in schools.

He has, therefore, charged board of governors of senior high schools to collaborate and help school authorities to maintain a high level of discipline at all levels to promote effective teaching and learning in schools.

Mr. Sarfo Kantanka was speaking at the inauguration of the re-constituted board of governors of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Senior High School, in Kumasi.

The new board has Dr. Divine Ahadzi, Research Fellow of the Centre for Resettlement Studies of KNUST, as chairman.

Mr. Sarfo Kantanka, however, advised the board to be conversant with the code of discipline for senior high schools, to guide them in the handling of disciplinary issues, especially those involving dismissal of students.

He pointed out that it was only the Director General of Education who could dismiss a student based on the recommendations of the board; saying, what school authorities could do is to place the affected students on indefinite suspension.

Mr. Sarfo Kantanka stressed the importance of harmonious relationship between schools and communities in which they were sited. He said the appointment of the board of governors from among members in the communities was to seek adequate support of the communities for the schools.

He advised members of the board to work closely with the school authorities to improve on academic performance, discipline and infrastructural development in the school.

Mrs. Joyce Owusu Ansah, Headmistress of the school, said academic performance of the school has improved significantly, making the school one of the best in the country.

She, however, expressed worry about the continuous delay in the completion of the classroom complex and other on-going projects in the school, and also called for swift action to complete them.