The Ghana Education Service (GES) has been urged to work with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to create a case management protocols for ill pupils in schools by the education think tank Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch).
This comes after a first-year Aburi Girls Senior High School (SHS) student passed away last week.
It stated that “parent associations and old students must be interested in the state and functioning of health facilities in their schools while providing support” and that “GES should liaise with the GHS to ensure sickbays had the necessary drugs, competent personnel, and basic facilities to function under the NHIS.”
The Appropriate resources (Case Management Protocols)
According to Kofi Asare, the Executive Director of Eduwatch, every school sickbay needs to have adequate resources and a designated car for managing emergency situations, as reported by the Daily Graphic.
He highlighted the instance at Aburi Girls, when it was necessary to summon the deceased’s parents, who resided in Ablekuma, Accra, to the school as a bad discretion.
He highlighted, “If such case management Protocols had existed and been followed, we probably could have saved the girl’s life.” He went on to say that one advantage of having a protocol was that it allowed for the accountability of each actor involved in the health case management process.
The criminal Investigations Departement
Eduwatch commended the Ghana Police Service’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for initiating the inquiry into the incident and recommended that it be carried out to the fullest extent possible, with the results made public.
It stated that the terrible incident at Aburi Girls SHS was not the first, which is concerning.
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According to the think tank, at least a few well-publicized secondary school deaths have occurred since 2017 as a result of school administrators’ improper use of discretion in denying ill children the opportunity to receive care at home or in a hospital.
It mentioned the St. Monica’s High School incident from the previous year, among other things.
Although it is typically used with diligence, this discretionary power can be abused due to a variety of factors, including personal prejudices.