WASSCE riots: Corporal punishment must be reintroduced - GNAT

The Ghana Education Service must think of reintroducing corporal punishment to instill discipline in most schools across the country, President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Phillipa Larson has stated.

Speaking on Morning Starr, Madam Larson said the behaviour of some candidates in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is a clear indication that the Ghana Education Service must reconsider the ban on corporal punishments in schools.

“I think that as a country we should look at corporal punishment and bring it back in a way,” Madam Larson told sit-in host Lantam Papanko Monday morning on Starr 103.5FM. 

GES in 2017 officially banned all forms of corporal punishment of children in schools in Ghana as part of efforts aimed at promoting a safe and protective learning environment for children.

The GES directed in January 2019 that a Positive Discipline Toolkit which gives alternatives to corporal punishments be adopted by all teachers.

On Friday, the GES dismissed some 14 final year students who are believed to have caused chaos and destroyed properties in their respective schools in the wake of the ongoing WASSCE.

The GES in a statement said the action is to serve as deterrent for other students who are still partaking in the exams.

President Akufo-Addo on Sunday appealed to the Ghana Education Service to reconsider the decision to ban some 14 students from writing the ongoing WASSCE following their involvement in the recent chaos in their schools.

In a statement Sunday, the President directed the Education Minister to intervene in order to ensure that the students are made to write the exams. The statement, however, noted the dismissal and other punishment meted to them must stand.