Character formation should be made an integral part of the country’s educational system as part of efforts to curb indiscipline among young individuals, an educationist has advocated.
According to the President of Save the Nation for Future Leaders, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mr Kwadwo Atta Apeakorang, this would help raise responsible youth.
“Many youngsters tend to believe and emulate the negative contents on social media especially, but if our educational system will give priority to building good character among students, it will make them capable of knowing what is right despite the trending negativity on social media handles,” he said.
Mr Apeakorang made the assertion in a telephone interview with the Ghanaian Times yesterday as part of the International Day for Education celebration, marked on the theme “To invest in people, patronise education”.
He was of the view that corporal punishment was not entirely wrong, adding that it only behooved teachers and instructors to be measured when meting out corporal punishment as the practice significantly contributed to the shaping of human character.
This, he stressed, did not mean that corporal punishment was the only solution to indiscipline, adding that it was, however, very necessary in some cases depending on the severity of offence.
“When we condone indiscipline, we will end up bringing up children who will grow up and eventually become a burden to the country and the world at large. At the school level, when discipline is well instilled in pupils and students, they go out there and live responsible lives to the admiration of all.”
“It is rather sad that lately these children have been given too much liberty to the extent that some even have the audacity to post immoral acts on social media, including recording themselves insulting elderly people and posting same on social media,” he said.
Mr Apeakorang cited the incident involving students of the Chiana Senior High School (SHS) in the Kassena Nankana West District in the Upper East Region who were captured in a video recently, insulting President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as a typical example of an act which must be prevented from happening again at all cost.
Touching on the need to ensure enough policies were put in place to ensure Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education was made very attractive to school girls, the educationist and human rights activist stated that times were changing due to digitisation so preparing girls and women for the era of high technology were very necessary
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
