Editorial by Ghanaian Times: Stem preventable deaths among SHS students

Man begins to die the very moment he is born, but since some deaths are described as premature, it means such deaths are unacceptable due to the circumstances leading to them.

It is against this background that the deaths of senior high school (SHS) students in the country, which some people think could have been avoided, have raised issues of concern among the public.

It has been reported that four boarding students died in four SHSs between February and July this year due to untreated illnesses worsened by alleged negligence from school authorities.

Commenting on the deaths at Ghana National College, Aburi Girls SHS, Akim Swedru SHS, and Kalpohin SHS at a press conference in Accra days ago, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Child Rights International (CRI), Bright Appiah, recalled that from 2001 to 2017, five other school-related child fatalities were reported, citing causes such as negligence, malaria, and teacher apathy.

He added that the trend was disturbing as it had gone on for many years, showing a pattern of neglect towards the welfare of students, and called for urgent change.

The Ghanaian Times thinks the unavoidable death of even one SHS student is too many to be acceptable, and so urgent attention needs to be paid to the issue of deaths in SHSs.

Listening to the lamentations of the CEO of the CRI, the Ghanaian Times thinks the situation is serious and really needs urgent attention to save innocent young lives.

As it is the case in modern times, parents want their children educated so they can understand and be part of the modern way of life.

Thus, at some point, the children would attend SHS, and where they are boarders, school authorities would need to give the children special care.

This means school authorities must be up-to-date with facilities that ensure the total welfare of the children, especially things that underpin their good health, such as food, well-equipped infirmaries, and healthy rules and regulations.

In times past, probably because of low enrolments and healthy environments, the infirmaries were effective, but now the high enrolments may overwhelm the facilities, and this is what the school authorities must be up and doing.

School rules and regulations must cease to be too strict and become hurtful in the end.

Why should granting an exemption, for example, follow a bureaucratic process that creates unnecessary obstacles, potentially worsening health crises by impeding timely intervention like allowing a child to go home for malaria, a treatable disease, to be timely treated to save him from preventable death?

It is sad that some teachers violating students’ human rights today had the best of care in their school days but are showing apathy towards student wellbeing today.

There is no doubt that the government is doing its bit to improve education in the country.

However, it appears its plans are short of providing facilities to take good care of the students, such as modern infirmaries, and staffing them with well-trained medical professionals who would only do timely referrals in cases beyond them and their facilities.

The government must pay urgent attention to this and also endeavour to eradicate or check negative acts by teachers and school authorities that impede the good lives of both boarding and day students.