The growing incidents of violence and vandalism in Ghana’s senior high schools require a major rethink of how security is managed on school campuses, education policy expert Dr Peter Anti has warned.

He said the traditional reliance on watchmen, teachers and school authorities to handle security-related concerns was no longer sufficient, particularly as conflicts among students increasingly escalate into serious violence and destruction of property.

Dr Anti argued that senior high schools need specially trained security personnel who can monitor student behaviour, gather intelligence and identify potential threats before they develop into violent incidents.

“In recent times, you would need the kind of security that gathers information, that gathers intelligence, that is able to control the extraneous behaviours of students within the limits that they have been given, and that will be able to provide what I call first aid in terms of violence breakouts in our school system,” he said.

He noted that housemasters and senior housemasters have traditionally been expected to monitor students and gather information about their activities.

However, he believes teachers should not continue carrying that responsibility alongside their core teaching and administrative duties, especially when doing so exposes them to attacks.

“What we have relied on over the years are teachers who serve as housemasters and then senior housemasters. Those are the people we have relied on to also serve as the people who would gather intelligence and information as to how students are thinking and behaving and what plans students have,” he said.

Speaking on Citi FM on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, the Executive Director of the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST), Dr Peter Anti, said the scale of recent violence showed the need for a more professional approach to school security.

His comments follow the violent clash between Okuapeman Senior High School and Mount Sinai Senior High School, which resulted in reprisal attacks and extensive damage to school property. Six Okuapeman SHS students were hospitalised after sustaining injuries in the incident, which occurred at about 2am on Wednesday.

The Visual Arts studio, teachers’ office and seven classrooms at Okuapeman were reportedly burnt, with examination papers and certificates also destroyed. At Mount Sinai SHS, a storeroom and the boys’ washroom were also reportedly set ablaze.

Dr Anti said trained security personnel could have helped detect warning signs before the confrontation escalated.

“If they are there, they would have picked up this kind of intelligence, whether through the students’ conversations or whatever it is that would happen before they go out. They would have picked some of these things and quickly alerted the authorities to step in,” he said.

He therefore urged the Ministry of Education to upgrade the security architecture of senior high schools, arguing that a stronger system would help prevent violence and provide a safer environment for students and teachers.

“I believe that a lot of these things are now happening because of the nature of our secondary school security system. And I believe we need to upgrade that,” Dr Anti said.