Social media, digital devices and weak enforcement of school rules have been identified as major factors contributing to indiscipline in schools.
To help stem the tide, a call has been made for the establishment of a national policy on the use of such devices in schools.
A theologian and professor of Christian-Muslim Relations, Prof. John Azumah, explained that such a policy should not only focus on banning or punishing students, but also teaching them how to use technology responsibly.
He was delivering the 12th Annual Public Lecture of Baraka Policy Institute (BPI), a Muslim-friendly think tank in Accra, last Wednesday, on the theme: “Tackling the rising indiscipline in SHSs in Ghana: The role of effective character formation.”
The event was a meeting of education stakeholders who included school heads, teachers, religious leaders, representatives of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and students, who examined disciplinary challenges in schools.
The annual public lecture is organised by the BPI to provide a platform for stakeholders to deliberate on critical national development issues, particularly in education.
Study
The presentation by Prof. Azumah, who is also the Executive Director of the Sanneh Institute, largely centred on a study he conducted on discipline, character formation and moral education in Ghana’s SHSs.
The study covered about 240 schools across the country, involving students and teachers, with a response rate of 95.6 per cent.
The study identified stealing as the leading disciplinary problem, followed by absenteeism, disrespect for authority, fighting and violence, bullying, sexual misconduct and substance abuse.
It also found that indiscipline was higher in non-mission schools compared to mission schools.
Enforcement
Prof. Azumah called on school authorities to ensure that disciplinary measures were applied effectively and consistently.
He called for greater attention to the work of chaplains and religious educators, saying they must be given refresher training to strengthen their counselling roles.
Prof. Azumah added that the changing nature of indiscipline required new approaches, including new tools.
He also noted that the growth in student numbers under the Free SHS programme had placed pressure on infrastructure and supervision in some schools.
School boards
The Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in charge of Quality and Access, Dr Issahaque Munawaru, said school governing boards needed to be adequately trained to take responsibility in addressing disciplinary cases in SHSs.
He said the boards must have the authority to deal with serious offences, including the withdrawal and dismissal of students, without always having to seek approval from the Director-General of the GES.
Dr Munawaru explained that the disciplinary system provided various sanctions for misconduct, ranging from lower-level punishments and suspension to indefinite suspension, withdrawal and dismissal.
He also raised concerns about the treatment of religious matters in mission schools and called for fairness in the application of religious practices.
Dr Munawaru stressed that Ghana was a secular state and, therefore, urged stakeholders to ensure that students were treated fairly, regardless of their religious beliefs.
He further urged authorities to ensure that school policies and decisions complied with the 1992 Constitution.
Support
The Greater Accra Regional Director of the GES, Hajia Katumi Natogmah Attah, said her outfit was ready to support practical interventions to address indiscipline in SHSs.
She said character formation was an integral part of developing the entity of a learner to achieve quality education, adding that “if we strengthen a character today, we secure the character of our nation tomorrow”.
