The Ministry of Education is planning a review of school regulations and stronger monitoring of teachers and headteachers following allegations of sexual abuse involving 19 girls at Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS).
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu announced the measures on Monday, October 26, as he pledged administrative and legal action in the case involving the school’s suspended headmaster, Zakaria Abdulai, who is accused of sexually abusing the students.
Mr Iddrisu said the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) would take the necessary steps to protect students, support those affected and ensure accountability.
He stressed that the government would not allow the case to be forgotten without appropriate action.
“The primary essence of this press briefing is to assure the Ghanaian public that the Ministry of Education and the GES will do everything appropriate to safeguard and ensure the protection of all students as a statutory duty. We would not fail in this endeavour,” he said.
As part of the response, the minister said the government would provide trauma-informed support for the 19 students involved and strengthen existing safeguards to prevent similar incidents in other schools.
He also directed the GES Director-General to ensure that students were not assigned domestic duties for headteachers or teachers, signalling a move to address practices that could expose learners to inappropriate situations.
Mr Iddrisu further outlined plans to review school regulations, monitor the conduct of teachers and headteachers more closely, and engage parents and students to identify weaknesses in current student-protection arrangements.
The proposed measures are intended to strengthen oversight within schools and improve the mechanisms for identifying and addressing risks to students.
The case has placed renewed attention on the responsibility of education authorities to protect learners and ensure that allegations of abuse in schools receive appropriate attention.
The minister’s announcement signals the government’s intention to combine action in the Obuasi SHTS case with broader efforts to strengthen student safeguarding across the education system.
