Due process will be followed - Education Minister assures as GES D-G and Gender Minister storm Obuasi SHTS

Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, says students’ safety remains a government priority as investigations into allegations against the school’s headmaster continue.

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has directed the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection to visit Obuasi Senior High School to establish the facts surrounding the alleged sexual scandal involving the school's headmaster, Abdulai Zakaria.

The directive forms part of efforts to investigate the allegations, protect students and ensure that anyone found culpable is held accountable.

Addressing a news conference, Mr Iddrisu said the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection and the GES Director-General were already in Obuasi to assess the situation.

“Honourable [Minister], together with the Minister for Gender and Social Protection and the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, are in Obuasi. The school has reopened fully, and all continuing and fresh students are expected to resume normal academic work,” he said.

The headmaster, Abdulai Zakaria, has been interdicted pending investigations into the matter, while a docket has reportedly been forwarded to the Ghana Police Service.

Minister cautions against generalisation

Mr Iddrisu has cautioned the media, politicians and the public against using the incident to create the impression that similar cases have occurred across the country's 720 senior high schools.

He urged the public to allow the relevant institutions to investigate the allegations and ensure that due process is followed.

“Amidst the further investigations into similar incidents, this scandal will suffer the same issue like other burning issues and will be discussed in the media over a period and then go out with a whimper. But due process will be followed in respect of this matter,” he said.

He called on all parties to respect due process, uphold the rule of law and allow the appropriate authorities to carry out their investigations.

Government commits to protecting students

The Education Minister said the government would pursue all available administrative and legal avenues to establish the facts and ensure that the investigation was not compromised.

“The essence of this press conference is to ensure that the Ministry of Education will safeguard and ensure the protection of all students. We will not fail in this endeavour,” Mr Iddrisu said.

“We will pursue all the administrative and legal tools, and going into the future, this should remain government's most important priority,” he added.

Ban on students providing services in teachers' homes

As part of measures to strengthen student protection, Mr Iddrisu has directed that students should not be required to provide services to teachers in their private homes.

He also urged parents and guardians to support the government’s efforts to protect students and encouraged parents and students to report suspected misconduct or inappropriate behaviour to school authorities or the relevant institutions.

“I call on parents and guardians to support government for this to succeed,” he said.

The Minister reiterated that further investigations would be conducted to establish the facts surrounding the allegations at Obuasi Senior High School.

The outcome of the investigations is expected to inform the next course of action against any persons found culpable.