Sexual misconduct may be more prevalent in basic schools than SHSs – Angel Carbonu

Former National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) President Angel Carbonu has suggested that sexual misconduct in Ghana’s schools could be more widespread at the basic level than in senior high schools (SHSs).

He has attributed the possible trend to the vulnerability of younger pupils, the presence of basic schools in nearly every community and cultural practices that may contribute to such incidents.

Mr Carbonu made the observation on Accra-based Channel One TV, while discussing allegations of sexual abuse involving the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), Zakaria Abdulai, who has been accused of raping 19 students.

“The problem is coming from the Ghanaian society and you can even trace it to our culture and traditions and how we establish relationships, but none of that is a justification to the issues that concern us right now. It is not a problem of senior high schools but it is a problem of schools in general,” he said

He said although the allegations had brought renewed attention to sexual misconduct in senior high schools, the issue extended beyond that level of education.

“I think the situation may be worse in basic schools because looking at the number of basic schools all over the country and the fact that senior high school girls are a little bit more mature as compared to basic school girls.

“And the fact that basic schools are within every community that we have and some of the communities have very entrenched cultural practices that could aid some of these issues,” he added.