Deputy Education Minister Dr Clement Apaak has said the government is taking a keen interest in the alleged sexual abuse of a 14-year-old student with autism at the Bolgatanga Girls’ Senior High School (BOGISS) in the Upper East Region.

He said the Ministry of Education was concerned about the manner in which the matter had been handled by the school authorities and had directed the Ghana Education Service (GES) to ensure that the student received the necessary medical attention and counselling.

Speaking on Joy FM’s News Night on Thursday, August 20, Dr Apaak said the government’s intervention was intended to protect the student and reassure parents about the safety of their children in schools.

He said the Minister for Education had instructed him to lead the intervention while the ministry awaited a comprehensive report from the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service.

According to him, the ministry had also directed that the student’s boarding status, which had reportedly been withdrawn following the incident, be reinstated.

“And that is why we have asked that the victim, whom we hear is a 14-year-old special needs student, should be given the needed counselling as well as the medical attention she requires and that her revoked boarding status should be reinstated,” Dr Apaak said.

He explained that the intervention followed concerns that the parents of the student were dissatisfied with the manner in which the school management had dealt with the matter.

Ministry unhappy

Dr Apaak said the Minister was unhappy that a matter of such gravity had become public before the relevant education authorities had adequately addressed it.

“But the reason why this was instructed is because we are aware that the parents have not taken kindly to the way the matter has been handled, including the set instructions that were issued by the school, that she should be withdrawn from the boarding school and that medical expenses, counselling and all of that should be borne by the parents,” he said.

He said the circumstances surrounding the case raised questions about the responsibilities of the regional and municipal education authorities, as well as the school administration.

“First of all, for us to become aware of an issue of this magnitude in the public space, in itself, is a challenge. And clearly, at another time, the regional director, the municipal director, the head mistress, they have questions to answer,” he stated.

Dr Apaak said the ministry would not support an approach that effectively punished the alleged victim, particularly because she was a minor and a student with special educational needs.

“We don't think that a girl, a minor, for that matter, somebody with special needs, especially at a time when ministry and government, we are working to promote and improve special needs education and inclusive education, that we allow this matter to go the way as we have anticipated,” he said.

‘We side with the parents’

Dr Apaak said the ministry’s position was that the student should not be removed from the mainstream school system merely because she had special needs or had allegedly become a victim.

“We are taking a keen personal interest in this, and we side with the parents,” he said.

“If the parents decide that, based on those conditions, their ward should no longer be in the school environment, then we would understand that.

“But the school ought not to make that decision, which is at variance from what the parents desire. And we believe that our school environment should be safe enough. We should put in place the mechanisms to ensure that all students at all times are safe.”

He said the case was particularly significant in the context of the government’s efforts to promote inclusive education.

“I mean, how can we say we are promoting inclusive education? And what that means is that whether a student is suffering from autism or has one or another form of disability and yet can participate in education in a general school setting, they should be allowed to do so,” he said.

“So we cannot go against our principle of promoting inclusive education by agreeing that because she has special needs and because she's a victim, the solution is that she should be withdrawn. There are many more like her also in the mainstream school system.”

Schools must ensure safety

Responding to concerns about the safety of students in schools, Dr Apaak said existing systems placed responsibility on school authorities to ensure that both teaching and non-teaching staff operated within established rules.

“Well, there are rules. And there are different entities responsible for different responsibilities. And so we expect that headteachers and headmistresses would have control over what goes on on their campuses, including supervising the staff, both teaching and non-teaching, and ensuring that they do the right things,” he said.

He said schools were also permitted to engage security personnel to strengthen safety arrangements on their campuses.

“So we expect that the structures and the system should work. And even when they don't, we will hold people accountable and we will do just that,” he said.

The Deputy Minister said the ministry was awaiting the full report into the incident and would take further action based on the findings.