The Irony: Dismissal of Chiana 8

The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, on  12^th September, 2017, launched the free Senior High School Policy as a means to create a society of opportunities and empowerment for every citizen. During the launch, the President bemoaned the number of children who constantly fell out of the educational system and noted that his free compulsory Universal Basic Education would ensure that no child is denied access to secondary education.

 It is rather ironic that the same system and government that pledged inclusive and equitable education for all and equally pledged to invest in the future of the youth is shredding the educational journey of students who chose to practice free speech but in a wrongful and disrespectful manner.

As the proverb goes “when a child messes on a parent’s thigh, the mess is washed off and not cut off the thigh.” We can quickly cast our minds back to when we all were children, as the saying goes “ A child have we all ever been but an adult is what we have all never been”. Several were the times we wronged and disrespected our parents. But for the sake of  love and progress, never was there a time our parents banished us from the house because we wronged them. There was always an alternative punishment served at home so that the rod is not spared and the child spoiled. Why can’t same be done for this children?

In as much as I do not condone this frivolous and disrespectful act from the Chiana 8, I unequivocally condemn such an attitude of loose tongue and speaking against the elderly in an uncalled for manner. I, however, dare say expulsion from school is synonymous to spoiling the child while the rod is spared. This is because then, the child is denied of progress as there is no education to shape their lives, mind and thought for today and tomorrow.

Kofi Annan once said, “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress in every society, in every family”. Other popular saying has it that “education is part of the foundation of all progress and growth, both as an individual and as a society”.

Now, the Holy Bible will also tell you, if the foundation be destroyed,  what can the righteous do. To wit, if the education is destroyed, what can the child and youth do?

As it stands now, almost all secondary school education in the country including the TVET is overseen by the Ministry of Education and by extension, the Ghana Education Service (GES). So tell me, where can the children go to continue their education when they were sacked by the “overseer” of the educational system? Is there no other correctional mechanisms to discipline the children rather than measures injurious to their future? What happened to the idea and purpose behind the Free Compulsory  Universal Basic Education for all? Or is there an exception to the delivery of this program that Ghanaians are yet to be made aware of? Or should we say the GES is tactically pleasing their pay masters at the expense of the ordinary citizens? Or better yet, should we say the GES just delight in sidelining some students from benefiting from the Universal Basic Education?

Would you recall the GES, in 2020, dismissed some 14 final year students who were believed to have caused chaos and destroyed properties in their respective schools in the wake of the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE)?

Is expulsion the only solution GES has to remedy certain youthful exuberance and misconduct that would die out as they advance in age and experience more of life?

Even in worst cases, criminals who are under felonious crimes have access to formal education and other vocational and training programs as a result of certain measures by the Ghana Prison Board. This is to ensure that, criminals who desired education are not deprived of it. If criminals are not deprived of education, what disrespectful act and offense warrant truncating the education of the Chiana 8. This is harsh and punitive than what the prison service are doing.

Nonetheless, a kudos to the President for rescinding the harsh decision of the GES. I also applaud the minority and all individuals who stood their grounds, stepped into the situation and demanded for the appropriate sanction.

I will urge the Education Minister, Mr. Yaw Adutwum to buckle his belt and put his best foot forward to ensure the education of our youths are not jeopardized. Let us not forget that, education is the backbone of our country. Thus, if the management of our educational system will play with it or let politics or gratification of their paymasters steer their work delivery, then I’m sorry to say the country is in shambles.

By: Esther Tetteh