First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, also known as Joe Wise, has raised concerns about the declining standards of discipline in Ghana’s educational sector.
He believes that it is crucial to reevaluate the upbringing of young people to ensure they become more responsible adults in the future.
Speaking at the 10th-anniversary celebration of Fettehman Senior High School over the weekend, he also commented on the widely known Adisadel College assault case.
“We should look at how we bring up children in this country since it is becoming a challenge. The kind of upbringing is important. There is no need for him to be that violent towards another student.
“If we discuss this in isolation, we would miss it. What happened in the school is a reflection of what is happening in the country. We think we are not supposed to punish students and this is how we pay for it as a country.
“There is nothing wrong with students being at each other, but when it gets beyond regular bullying, it is bad. I regret that it has been taken to the court since this matter could have been addressed in the school, but the Attorney General thinks otherwise,” Joseph Osei-Owusu said.
He expressed the belief that, although the act was condemnable, a more effective approach to address the situation would have been to counsel both the victim and the perpetrator, allowing them to focus on their studies and future prospects.
The individual responsible for the assault, who forcefully slammed his colleague’s head against a bunk bed causing swelling, was brought before the court late last week. As a consequence of his actions, he was expelled from the school and would only be permitted to write his WASSCE exams under the supervision of WAEC.
The Ghana Education Service, the Ministry of Education, and other relevant stakeholders took the matter seriously once the video of the incident went viral on social media.