Accra, 07 August, 2020 / 9:24 pm (ACI Africa).
Recent cases of violent student unrest in some Senior High Schools (SHS) in Ghana have caught the attention of Catholic Bishops in the West African nation who, in a collective statement, describe the students’ actions as “disheartening” and a “show of disrespect for authority.”
Reacting to online videos showing SHS candidates destroying school property and attacking people including institutional leaders, the members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC) have condemned “in no uncertain terms this show of disrespect for authority, even going to the extent of insulting the President of the nation.”
In their Friday, August 7 statement, the Bishops further condemn the actions of students who attacked “some heads of institutions, teachers, staff of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and journalists, resulting in varied degrees of injuries suffered by the victims.”
An August 3 online videos shows students of some SHS in Ghana destroying school furniture, smashing bowls containing food in the school dining hall, attacking exam invigilators, journalists, and issuing threats to school authorities for being firm on invigilation during the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Final year students of the Tweneboa Kodua Senior High School in Ghana’s Ashanti Region threatened to boycott the ongoing WASSCE examination after they accused teachers of being too strict during the supervision of their Integrated Science examination.