Child Rights International (CRI), a child-friendly organisation, has called for the counselling unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to be elevated to an authority to give it greater independence to efficiently deal with child welfare and protection in pre-tertiary schools.
The call is in view of persistent sexual abuse involving children in basic and senior high schools.
Cataloguing about 11 such cases across schools in five regions between 2018 and 2025, the Executive Director of CRI, Bright Appiah, said the incident involving the multiple sexual assault allegations against the Headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS) brought into sharp focus the need for the Counselling Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to be elevated to an authority to enable it to provide oversight and supervision of child welfare and protection matters in schools.
“An independent mechanism would strengthen impartiality, improve the handling of complaints, and ensure that concerns relating to children’s safety are addressed without undue institutional influence,” the child rights advocate told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday.
Mr Appiah also called for the integration of social welfare officers into basic and secondary schools to provide professional support in child protection and safeguarding, case management, referrals, and follow-up.
“Their integration will strengthen the identification and management of abuse cases and ensure that appropriate child protection and safeguarding policies are implemented effectively within educational institutions,” he said.
The executive director maintained that the country must do more to protect the rights of children in schools despite the increased funding in basic and secondary education.
Allegations
Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni brought up the allegations of sexual misconduct against female students of Obuasi SHTS in the Ashanti Region to public attention.
Amid initial denials and write-offs, the reports have prompted official interventions from education authorities.
The Minister of Education last Tuesday directed the Director-General of GES to suspend the headmaster of the school, Zakaria Abdulai, pending full investigations.
The minister also requested the Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to commence an investigation into the issue.
Consequently, the GES in a statement issued yesterday directed the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Dr William Amankrah Appiah, and the Obuasi East Municipal Director of Education, Kwamena Owusu-Nketiah, to step aside with immediate effect.
The statement said the directive was part of ongoing investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct involving Mr Abdulai.
“The decision is intended to ensure that the investigations proceed without potential interference, nor the perception of it,” the statement said, and further directed the two directors to hand over their offices and all state property in their possession to the Deputy Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Thomas Kwame Boateng.
It reiterated that the headmaster remained interdicted, stressing that Mr Abdulai had not been cleared.
Resignation
Meanwhile, following a directive by the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), directing him to resign from his position as Juaben Constituency Secretary and forfeit his chairmanship bid in next Saturday’s constituency elections, Mr Abdulai has obliged.
“After further consideration, the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) has directed that Mr Zakaria Abdulai step aside, in the overriding interest of transparency and accountability, to allow for an unhindered investigation by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service,” the statement signed and issued by the General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, said.
Shortly after the party’s directive, Mr Abdulai tendered his resignation and withdrew from the contest.
Pattern
Mr Appiah described the recurring pattern of sexual assaults in schools as troubling, stressing that the situation was affecting the development of children.
"These issues of protection should not only be in the media or social media for us to pay attention to them.
The system should be more responsive to issues that concern children," he said.
Mr Appiah, who has been advocating children’s rights for decades, stressed that the trend pointed to a failure of institutions mandated to protect children.
The CRI executive director also referenced many sexual abuse, assault, defilement and sodomy cases reported in the media since 2018, including cases in Ejisuman, St. Louis SHS in the Ashanti Region, Kumasi High School, Business SHS in the Volta Region, KNUST SHS in 2025, Bawku SHS, Kadjebi Girls and the latest Obuasi case.
He stated that in most of the cases, the GES set up committees to investigate them, but the outcomes were never made public.
Mr Appiah described the situation as a systemic failure and said the GES must now look to an independent body clothed with the powers of an authority to handle child protection issues.
"We need urgent, decisive and sustained action to ensure that every child is protected, every complaint is taken seriously, and every allegation is addressed through appropriate accountability and justice mechanisms," Mr Appiah stressed.
Investments
Mr Appiah also pointed to huge investments the government was making in education, but said such interventions would not yield the desired results if children were not protected.
He cited budget figures showing the government spent over GH¢20 billion in 2022, GH¢23 billion in 2023, GH¢32 billion in 2024 and GH¢42 billion in 2025, the highest so far.
The Executive Director of Child Rights International explained that in 2025 alone, the government allocated GH¢9.12 billion to basic education and GH¢11.88 billion to second cycle education, representing nearly 50 per cent of the education budget.
"What would it mean if we are making all these investments and we cannot protect the very interests of the people we are investing in?" he questioned.
Many civil society, child protection and human rights organisations have also raised their voices condemning the recent alleged acts of sexual abuse and called for the law to take its course.
The Zonta Clubs of Ghana called for the prosecution of teachers and head teachers who sexually abuse schoolgirls, urging the Ministry of Education to ensure that perpetrators are dismissed and held accountable under the law. .
The Network for Women's Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) has also called for the prosecution of the Headmaster of Obuasi SHTS (read story on page 11).
