President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has asked the Ghana Education Service (GES) to consider alternative disciplinary action against eight students who were dismissed following derogatory statement made against him.
This follows, the President’s decision to intervene in the matter after his attention was drawn to dismissal of the students on Wednesday by the management of the GES.
The directive by the Ministry of Education was contained in a press statement issued and signed by the Spokesperson of the Ministry, Mr Kwesi Kwarteng.
It would be recalled that two days ago, eight female students in the Upper East Region were dismissed for allegedly insulting the President, Akufo-Addo in a viral video last year November.
Prior to their dismissal, the students had been suspended.
The GES noted that an investigation into the incident confirmed that the students used unsavoury language against the President.
It thus, described the actions of the students as “very undesirable, and contrary to the acceptable standards of the conduct generally required of any student in Ghana’s educational system “.
Meanwhile, the GES had earlier apologised to the President prior to the dismissal of the students over the said conduct.
The news of the dismissal of the students had since generated a lot of reactions from the general public as some have expressed mixed feelings about the development of the issue.
While some criticised the GES, others commended the regulatory body for the disciplinary action taken against the students.
Some of the public the Ghanaian Times spoke to praised the President for intervening and called on stakeholders in the Education Ministry to put in stringent measures to address the continuous indiscipline among the students in the school in the use of social media.
They were of the view that there were so much indiscipline among the youth and called for stringent measures including corporal punishment in the schools.
They also urged parents to monitor their children on the use of social media to ensure they do not use it negatively.
“Social media is very crucial to ensure development, but as parents and guidance we have a huge responsibility to ensure our children use them positively,” they said
Following the dismissal of the students, another video went viral showing the students holding their letters apologising to the President and the GES begging for the clemency
BY ANITA NYARKO YIRENKYI
