Eliminating the boarding system in SHSs is without merit, according to Professor Aryeetey
Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana and Secretary General of the Africa Research Universities Alliance, has rejected the notion of abolishing the boarding school system in Senior High Schools (SHSs).
The call for discontinuing boarding schools gained traction after a video circulated showing a final-year student physically assaulting a fellow student at Adisadel College.
Although the Office of the Attorney General has taken legal action following the incident, some education sector experts have interpreted it as a sign of lawlessness and chaos within schools. These analysts propose that doing away with boarding schools could help address student indiscipline.
However, Prof. Aryeetey holds a different stance on the matter. In an interview with Citi News, he emphasized that addressing the prevailing issue should not involve the elimination of the boarding school system.
Acknowledging the challenges and costs associated with managing boarding schools, Prof. Aryeetey contends that scrapping them is not the remedy.
“The way to deal with the problem of today, will not be to scrap the boarding school system. I understand the boarding school system has become extremely expensive to manage.
“It is so because the state has decided that it wants to carry the burden. Boarding schools should be available to those who want and are willing to invest in them so scrapping boarding schools because the state cannot afford them cannot be the answer. Boarding school should be there for those who can afford it and those who be assisted can take advantage of it. Those who cannot afford it can use day schools”.
To reinstate discipline within Senior High Schools, Prof. Aryeetey proposes that the Ghana Education Service empower school boards to take necessary disciplinary actions.
“Today as a result of social media, students have access to phones, and so we are able to see it, but it doesn’t mean that bullying is new, it has always been there, let us not pretend. My worry is that those who are better positioned to deal with it at our schools have been restrained by the rules and practices of the Ghana Education Service,” lamented Prof. Ernest Aryeetey.
Source – citinewsroom.com
