The Upper East Regional Peace Council is worried that students at the second cycle level of education are beginning to use ethnicity to fuel conflicts among themselves. The Kongo Senior High School in the Nabdam District of the region has been cited as one of the schools that recorded riots fueled by ethnic divisions.
The Upper East Regional Secretary of the Peace Council, Ali Anankpieng, said this when he spoke to Mark Smith recently on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show.
“A Kongo riot for example, had to do with the relationship between students, in fact, leadership. It took a kind of ethnic dimension. Students from one side [of the region] up against students from another side [of the region] as to who should be or qualify to be a school prefect of that school,” he said.
It is unclear the time of the said riot.
Mr. Anankpieng’s comments were in support of an earlier comment that had been made on the same platform, highlighting the importance of properly managing relationships to properly deal with conflicts at the second cycle level.
Chairman of the Peace Education Sub-committee and member of the Regional Peace Council, Sir Alfred Ndago, explained that if relationships between teachers and students, students and school management, teachers and school management, and among the students themselves are not properly managed, there could be violent incidents recorded in the schools.
Sir Ndago added that for proper management of schools, school heads must focus on improving the quality and quantity of meals given to students, ensure proper teaching and learning activities, and include sporting and entertainment activities. Once all these factors are properly managed and highly featured in the lives of second cycle students, there will be a minimal incidence of conflicts.
The Regional Secretary of the Peace Council, Ali Anankpieng, using Kongo Senior High School as an example, recalled that one of the riots recorded in the school was fueled by concerns from students surrounding examinations.
Background
The escalation of school riots at the second cycle level has become a matter of great concern for parents, education managers, school administrators and security services. The Upper East Region has been in the spotlight since 2014 due to the increasing trend of school riots in the area.
A recent desktop study conducted by the Upper East Regional Peace Council since 2014 has revealed that almost every public second cycle school in the region has reported at least one riot.
Between 2020 and 2023, riots were reported in Sandema Senior High School (SANSEC), St Bernadette Technical Institute in Navrongo, Fumbisi Agricultural SHS, Kongo Senior High School in the Nabdam District, Bawku Technical Institute, Bolgatanga Technical Institute and Zebilla Senior High Technical. During this period, some of these schools have reported more than two riots.
These riots have resulted in the destruction of school and personal property, the loss of study time, and negative publicity for the schools involved and the region as a whole.
In 2019, following the closure of three Senior High Schools as a result of student riots and clashes, the then regional minister, Madam Tangoba Abayage, called for a crisis meeting with heads of schools to deliberate on measures to curb the phenomenon. Her successor, Stephen Yakubu, inherited the problem and expressed concern about the negative image that such riots were giving to the region.
The prevalence of school riots is a worrying trend that needs urgent attention to ensure the safety and well-being of students and the wider community, the Upper East Regional Peace Council has said.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
