NUGS pleads for clemency for 8 dismissed Chiana SHS students

The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) wants the Ghana Education Service (GES) to reconsider the dismissal of the 8 Chiana SHS students over some derogatory comments made against President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a viral video.

In a statement signed by the President of NUGS, Dennis Appiah-Larbi Ampofo said although it supports disciplinary actions, punishment which ultimately ends the dreams of young people should not be considered in this case.

It thus called on the Ghana Education Service Council, the Ministry of Education, and the Presidency to intervene in a review of the decision by GES to dismiss the students, suggesting that other forms of punishment which equally provides deterrence but ensures reformation can be applied.

“Whiles the union admits the need for punishment, and the benefits of same we are also of the humble conviction that the principle of punishment has a key pillar which is reformation. It is common African cultural knowledge that the responsibility of raising a child is not the duty of one man, hence our collective obligation to help shape the young ones of our country in a way that though evokes discipline still protects their future.

We believe that dismissal is overly heavy and leads to a huge step in truncating the educational future of these young ones. It is even more worrying knowing that due to the Free SHS policy, almost all Senior High Schools are now managed by the Ghana Education Service and such a dismissal is almost an end to their high school education,” the statement said.

Background

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has dismissed eight female students of the Chiana SHS in the Kassena Nankana West District of the Upper East Region who were captured in a viral video insulting President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The dismissal of the students comes on the heels of an investigation set into the case by authorities last year.

GES in a dismissal letter dated November 29, 2022, signed by the Director General of the GES, Dr Eric Nkansah, and handed to guardians of the affected students described their conduct as very undesirable, and contrary to the acceptable standards of conduct generally required of any student in Ghana’s educational system.