The Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG) has described as harsh the decision by the Ghana Education Service to dismiss 8 Chiana SHS students who used vulgar and unprintable words on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2022.
The HRRG added that dismissing the 8 Chiana SHS students could be described as the GES like killing mosquitoes with a sledgehammer.
In a press release by the HRRG which has been championing human right issues in Ghana, it called on the GES to temper justice with mercy. It added that “the decision to dismiss the students is too harsh and does not meet the changing trends in corrective decisions in school behaviour management. It is like killing mosquitoes with a sledgehammer. These students should not be dismissed.”
“The HRRG believes the kind of corrective approach used by the GES has the tendency to destroy the future of the students and derail their academic pursuits. It also goes contrary to the spirit and letter of the 1992 constitution which requires all and sundry to enjoy the right to education including these learners whose actions we condemn. ”
Below is the full press release
SACKING 8 CHIANA SHS STUDENTS, DENYING THEM THEIR RIGHT TO EDUCATION TOO HARSH AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL
The Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG) has received with shock the decision by the GES to dismiss 8 Chiana SHS students who went viral after spewing vulgar and unprintable words on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2022.
As a human rights group, our position on the decision by the Dr Eric Nkansah-led GES is that the decision to dismiss the students is too harsh and does not meet the changing trends in corrective decisions in school behaviour management. It is like killing mosquitoes with a sledgehammer. These students should not be dismissed.
The HRRG believes the kind of corrective approach used by the GES has the tendency to destroy the future of the students and derail their academic pursuit. It also goes contrary to the spirit and letter of the 1992 constitution which requires all and sundry to enjoy the right to education including these learners whose actions we condemn. The corrective options available to the GES should not have included the punitive decision to dismiss these young lives and put them through the rather sad emotional stress which is not good for their health and wellbeing.
The HRRG expected the government and the two education-focused institutions of state to place a stronger emphasis on counselling and moral values systems and programmes in our secondary schools to further enlighten students on what constitutes acceptable behaviour. This unacceptable behaviour of the learners empower the GES to tap into the positives in these leaners and make them change leaders or behaviour change champions.
We further call on the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to deploy more modern, useful, and forward-looking approaches to dealing with such issues. The GES should temper justice with mercy in this case and bring these learners back to school.
Thank you.
Signed
Joseph Wemakor
Executive Director
Tel: 0243676813
Wisdom Hammond
Programmes Director
Tel: 0550360658
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