Media Advocacy and Research Organisation (MARO), a nonprofit organization based in Bolgatanga has suggested to the management of Chiana Senior High School and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to provide intensive psychological counselling for the eight girls of the school who were dismissed last for insulting President Akufo-Addo.
It will be recalled that a day after the dismissal of the girls by the GES, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum directed the GES to consider an alternative disciplinary action against the girls instead of dismissal. His directive followed an intervention by President Akufo-Addo that the girls should be readmitted.
All the eight girls are said to be final year students who are expected to sit the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in May/June 2023. But before the girls are recalled and alternative disciplinary action taken against them, the Executive Director of MARO, William Nlanjerbor Jalulah has suggested to management of Chiana SHS and the GES to as a matter of importance, seek intensive psychological services for the girls.
Though he strongly condemned the misconduct of the girls describing it as shameful, he was however happy that the President has intervened and the girls will have the opportunity to continue and complete their secondary education.
Mr Jalulah in a recent interview with a1radionline.com said, “These girls have disgraced their families with their despicable conduct. Under no circumstance will anyone, or the girls themselves, justify what they did. Though many have said the dismissal was harsh and I agree with them, I just hope that others would see not the intervention by the President as way of giving students the leeway to misconduct themselves because next time this might happen, the defaulting student or students may not be lucky like these ones.
Having said this, I want to make a passionate appeal to the management of Chiana SHS and the GES to as a matter of importance, seek the services of professional counsellors and psychologists to provide intensive psychological counselling for these girls. There is no doubt that post their dismissals, they went through a lot of psychological trauma. Trauma because they received wide condemnation from everywhere and sure they deeply regretted their misbehaviour and if a lot of counselling services are not provided for them to recover, it is likely to affect them in their preparations towards their final examinations.”
Hopefully this week, the management of Chiana SHS is expected to initiate the process of readmitting the girls and issuing new punitive action against them.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Ghana
