School authorities must create a conducive environment and platform for students to dialogue with them to solve problems facing their schools, the president of the College for Community and Organisational Development (CCOD) in Sunyani has advised.

Dr Gabriel Gbiel Benarkuu noted that the absence of effective internal communication channels to enable students to express their views and put across their grievances for redress by school authorities has led to some of the violent confrontations witnessed in some schools in recent times.

In an interaction with JoyNews at Sunyani in the Bono region, Dr Benarkuu said ensuring a convenient atmosphere is better than allowing situations to degenerate into violent confrontations and demonstrations.

“A healthy school promotes open communication between students, teachers, parents, and employees.

That creates a space where questions can be answered, problems can be solved, and ideas can be shared," he stated.

He stated that research has consistently indicated that preventing school violence involves measures beyond formal protocols.

He said, "The quality of relationships between students and teachers, commonly known as school connectedness, may have a significant role in preventing school violence".

Dr Benarkuu explained that building strong teacher-student relationships makes students feel like they have close relationships with teachers they can trust and follow.

He said an open and trusting teacher-student relationship is viewed as a protective factor against considering violence as a viable option.

"When students come along with their thoughts and feelings validated, the less prone they are to contemplate acts of violence when distressed," he indicated.

"Let me say that teacher-student relationships are that students are more willing to speak up when there is knowledge of a potentially violent act.

In other words, students in a non-intimidating atmosphere are more apt to seek assistance from trusted teachers when they are aware of a potential violent event,” Dr Benarkuu stated.

He advised parents to play their expected roles towards instilling discipline in their children to minimise violent and indiscipline acts in the schools.

"Practicing good governance in the homes, schools, workplaces and churches will establish the developmental process in a disciplined manner, and the quality of parent-child relationship also determines the type of peers the teenagers choose," he stressed.

Dr Benarkuu said authorities of Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the country must not concentrate only on the academic performance of their students but also on their moral upbringing, saying, "Formal education should focus on the total development of the students in all spheres of their lives to enable them to grow to become responsible citizens of the country".

"As much as we want to produce students who are academically good, we must also help to mould them into upright and responsible adults who will contribute their quota towards the socio-economic development of the country," he emphasised.

He urged students to strive and achieve academic excellence through discipline to become good citizens, saying, "Irresponsible future leaders may compromise excellence and discipline".