Final-year students of Sandema SHS sent home for bullying first-year students
Seven hundred and fifteen final-year students of the Sandema Senior High School in the Builsa North District of the Upper East Region have been asked to leave the school compound immediately.
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The decision, which was taken by the Builsa North District Security Committee in collaboration with the District Education Directorate, followed the students' protest against the suspension of 19 of their colleagues who were reportedly caught bullying a first-year student.
The victim, who collapsed as a result of the bullying, is currently on admission at the Sandema Government Hospital.
The Builsa North District Director of Education, Mr Clement Abakisi, who disclosed this in an interview, indicated that the students were asked to leave the school to avoid student rioting.
Suspension
Mr Abakisi said nine out of the 19 students were suspended for maltreating the first-year student, while six of them were asked to go on internal suspension and the remaining four, to weed the school compound.
"I must say that bullying is not allowed and that is why we as authorities took that decision. The decision taken is justifiable and where there is no discipline, learning cannot take place so they should go home and think about their act but we will call them back at the appropriate time”, Mr Abakisi stated.
Protest
According to him, the final-year students, in a letter through the Students Representative Council to the school authorities, protested the indefinite suspension and refused to take their breakfast. They also boycotted their final mock examination.
He explained that the Board of Governors of the school met last Tuesday to present a situational report on the issue after which he forwarded the report to the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service in Accra.
Some of the affected students claimed that they may have to be accomodated by their friends at Sandema for a while because they don’t have money to go home.The school has a total population of about 2,000.