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The Western Regional Education Director, Felicia Okai, has disclosed that teachers who inflicted cane wounds on students of Annor Adjaye Senior High School would be punished.
According to her, the teachers had no right to beat the students mercilessly in the name of instilling discipline in them.
She added that the Ghana Education Service (GES) has also banned all forms of corporal punishment in schools to forestall such ‘torture or bullying’.
Madam Felicia Okai’s comments follow widespread reports that teachers numbering about seven from the Annor Adjaye SHS in the Jomoro Municipality have ‘brutally caned’ some 19 final-year-students for being late to a Sunday Morning Service.
But speaking on Angel FM’s Anopa Bofo Morning Show on Tuesday, May 10, the Education Director said that “the fact that they have broken the laws there would be repercussions for that. They had no right to treat the children like that. Be assured that they would be duly punished.”
She explained that the headmaster of the school was in Takoradi for a meeting at the time the incident occurred.
She stressed that “we have banned corporal punishment in schools and the law is still in force. We send a gentle reminder every term to the schools.”
The Western Regional Education Director indicated that “we sent our Guidance and Counselling Coordinator and two directors in Jomoro and Axim to go and find out what happened as soon as we were notified of the incident.”
Madam Okai, who was unhappy about the development questioned if the teachers would subject their children to such brutality.
“When I saw the pictures of the body wounds I asked if they would beat their own children like that. Because if we want students to attend church, you don’t do so with canes…The matter has ‘disgusted’ everyone. They shouldn’t even have canes in the schools.”
Meanwhile, Senior House Mistress of the school, Madam Betty Beeko, has explained that the narrative given by the students is not entirely true.
“I wasn’t there and I can’t tell what happened. I haven’t even seen the students. Perhaps when they were sacked, they were playing hide and seek and that might have angered the teachers. Maybe it was due to quick temper.”
