A section of the chalk fraternity have called on the GES not to be quick in to crucify Headteacher at the centre of the Students’ Drowning Incident which has left at least seven BECE 2021 candidates dead.
The write writes…
1. I commiserate with the family who have lost their children owing to the drowning incident in the River Oti in the Saboba Municipal. It is reported that these JHS students were returning from their headteacher’s farm and drowned while crossing the river.
2. Inasmuch as I agree that this tragedy wouldn’t have happened had the students not visited the headteacher’s farm, I am saddened by the way the court of public opinion has already ruled against the poor headteacher who is only a victim of this unfortunate tragedy.
3. If the students helped the headteacher in his farm outside instructional hours, the headteacher would not be in breach of Section 3.7 (ii) of the Code of Conduct for Staff of the GES which states that ” A staff shall not use the labour of a pupil/student in any form whatsoever with or without the consent of the parent during contact hours”. Again, the students helping the headteacher in his farm would not constitute child labour and would not breach Section 87 of the Children’s Act 1998 Act 560 because if it was done outside instructional hours, it would not deprive the students of the health, education and development as defined in 87(2) of the same act.
4. Moreover, the age minimum age for child labour has been set in Section 89 in the Children’s Act at 15 years and the minimum age for the engagement of a child in light work (work which is not likely to be harmful to the health or
development of the child and does not affect the child’s attendance at school or
the capacity of the child to benefit from school work) is 13 years (90 i and ii). With the harvesting of rice on the headteacher’s farm likely to be a light work per the above definition, if the ages of the students who helped in the farm are 13 and above, then the headmaster wouldn’t have breached any law.
5. The GES through the SISO in an interview with Joy News has condemned the headteacher and has threatened to deal ruthlessly with him. The MCE for the Saboba Municipal has also pre ruled that the headmaster (who himself reported at the police station) should not even be remanded to waste time but swiftly jailed to serve as a scape goat. It is sad that these crucifixion comments keep flooding in as though it has been established by the court that the headmaster had killed these students.
READ: One Teacher One Laptop Initiative: 2 Teacher Unions sue K.A Technologies, GES & others
6. We need not rush in making conclusions and let the law take its course. Will the MCE furiously threaten the same if he sends a student to fetch him water and is knocked down by a car? Now that the headteacher has been left alone as an orphan to swim or sink, I will call upon the teacher unions to go to his aid, legally and psychologically the same.
READ: 5 Trending Mobile Apps in 2020 that you must download
In conclusion, the GES which moves with gleeful alacrity to sanction teachers who err should with the same speed of light condemn students who commit atrocities against fellow students and teachers.
The Ghana Education News Editorial Team is a specialized collective of education researchers, journalists, and policy analysts dedicated to providing high-fidelity reporting on the Ghanaian academic landscape. Serving as a primary bridge between governing bodies—including the Ghana Education Service (GES) and WAEC—and the public, the team leverages over a decade of combined experience to serve students, parents, and educators nationwide.
Lead Architect & Editor-in-Chief
The team is led by Wisdom Kojo Eli Hammond, a distinguished Ghanaian Edu-Tech Entrepreneur, AI Solutions Developer, and Product Architect with over 25 years of cross-disciplinary experience in education, finance, and digital media. Wisdom is the visionary force behind SkulManager, Ghana’s premier school management ecosystem, and the Lead Consultant at Education-News Consult.
A self-taught innovator, professional Web Designer, and regular columnist on GhanaWeb, Wisdom engineered SkulManager.com as the only platform strictly tailored to the GES Curriculum. His technical leadership has redefined educational assessment through a Hybrid Marking Ecosystem, pioneering the BECE and WASSCE Home Mock services—a unique fusion of WAEC-trained human examiners and advanced AI marking engines operational since 2022.
Wisdom’s 360-degree view of institutional challenges is grounded in his tenure as College President and Lecturer at Pinnacle College (Achimota), as well as his background as a school administrator and accountant. He is a dedicated lifelong learner currently advancing his studies at the Accra Institute of Technology (AIT), with academic ties to the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).
An accomplished author, his works include Returnees of the Dead Forest (UK Published), Simplified Beacon of Light (850+ Q&A), and The Leader in Me. A foundational pillar of the award-winning NGO Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG), Wisdom is committed to building intelligent systems that solve societal problems and prepare the next generation of Ghanaian students for a digital future.
Contact: 0550360658 | Portals: GhanaEducation.org, GhanaEducationNews.org, SkulManager.com, BECEPrep.com. Educationnewsconsult.com etc