Let’s maintain discipline in our schools
Maintaining discipline in our schools is critical to the development of people with sound minds to spearhead the development of the country.
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Once people are disciplined, they are trained to obey rules or laid down code of behaviour. With discipline, people would be able to, among other things, manage resources that are entrusted to their care.
As the Good Book (Bible)says, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." This means that we have to instil in children the act of discipline so that they would not veer from it when they become adults.
Now, who should we blame for the act of indiscipline among our youth, especially in schools? Should we blame parents, teachers, the educational system or who?
In my view, I think we all have a role to play in instilling discipline in children and not a single person or institution. I believe the collective work of all is important for the development of the child.
Education system
In the case of the educational system, I think the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) will have to do their utmost best to curb indiscipline by coming out with clear rules and regulations and what is expected from all within the education space.
They need to communicate to the schools a code of conduct that outlines acceptable behaviours in schools.
There is also the need for consistent enforcement that calls for disciplinary measures with fairness, devoid of public inference. The GES must use a positive reinforcement that must encourage good behaviour through rewards and recognition programmes in our schools.
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I have come to realise that our engagement programmes are overlooked .The curriculum for schools and institutions must pave the way for the implementation of extra curriculum activities that promote teamwork and responsibility, which are all key to instilling discipline among students.
The guidance and counselling units of all the levels must regularly be in our schools, rather than being in the offices. All schools must create an office within for the counsellor for effective practices where student leaders will be taught conflict resolution after a period of training to know how to handle dispute constructively at their levels.
Our school authorities should monitor students regularly, assess their behaviour and adapt strategies that are needed. They include staff training in effective classroom management and other disciplinary strategies.
When these strategies are implemented, I believe they would create a disciplined and conducive learning environment. Furthermore, there is a need for a collaboration between school authorities and parents, as mentioned earlier.
This shall foster a supportive educational environment that involves regular communication, involvement in decision-making and participation in school events.
Public expectation is that the GES will return the current parent association (PA) back to the parent teacher association (PTA) in order to foster or promote volunteerism and feedback mechanisms to stakeholders in the educational system.
This partnership will also address concerns and build a stronger school community. PTAs play a crucial role in curbing indiscipline by fostering collaboration between parents and educators.
In the past, PTAs set clear expectations, looking at the challenges a school faced. This is by ensuring consistency at home and school devoid of many interferences and making policies more effective.
In addition, PTAs provide more support, offering resources to supplement government efforts as compared to the new policy on PA.
A few infrastructure projects were built by the PTAs, which accommodate teachers and students on campuses. There was also flexibility in administration by heads of our schools.
Moreover, we can use the speech and prize-giving days to celebrate disciplined students. Although this is being done, I believe it must be expanded to include more students by rewarding them for their comportment.
Celebrating students who demonstrate good behaviour sets a standard for others to emulate and encourage role models.
It is our collective responsibility to deal with the problem of indiscipline among students in our schools. We should, therefore, work together, as stakeholders in the education sector to produce disciplined and smart students for development of our dear country.
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This is because discipline is key to success.
The writer is a former Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Education Service
Writer’s email: jonathanatakuma@gmail.com