Dismissal of pregnant teacher trainees condemned

The Africa Public Policy Institute (APPI) has also condemned the code of conduct for teacher trainees, describing it as discrimination against women.

Contributing to a statement made on the issue by the Member for Akatsi North, Mr Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, Members of Parliament were reported to have expressed similar sentiments and called for an immediate review of the code, as a matter of urgency.

According to the Ghana Education Service (GES) Code of Discipline for teacher trainees 1998 page 21, 'a female student who becomes pregnant would be made to withdraw for a minimum period of one year, to apply for readmission'.

A statement signed by the Executive Director of the APPI, Prof. Mike Oquaye, and copied to the Daily Graphic, said the action to disallow pregnant teacher-trainees to write their final exams was manifestly wrong and illegal and the rules upon which such action is based are illegal and unconstitutional.

It described the powers given by principals under the code, as 'so wide' saying 'they lead to discriminatory application against some women.'

The statement made reference to an incident in which the principal of the St Monica's Training College was reported to have said that they were constrained to do so under the 'rules and regulations stipulated by the Teachers Education Division Manual for Teacher Trainees'.

It said 'women should not be discriminated against, maltreated, or deprived of any privileges or opportunity whatsoever, by dint of the fact that they are pregnant.' Indeed, Article 22 (1) of Ghana's 1992 Constitution provides: 'Special care should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and after child birth…'

The statement further quoted from Article 27 (3) of the 1992 Constitution, which states that 'Women shall be guaranteed equal rights to training and promotion without any impediments from any person', and pointed out that the present welfare state cannot provide the pregnant woman free maternal health with one hand and take away the right to education with another.

'It should be clear from the above that any decision that operates against women by virtue of they being women thus amounting to discrimination against them by dint of they being women is wrong and illegal' it said, and pointed out that 'Any law enacted by any authority whatsoever, including an Act of Parliament, which law infringes on the Constitution, is null and void, illegal, otiose, invalid and of no effect'.

It said the 1992 Constitution provided that 'This Constitution shall be the Supreme Law of Ghana and any other law found to be inconsistent with any provision of this Constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void' (Article 1(2).

According to the statement, the right to education is a fundamental human right and it is enshrined in the Ghana Constitution, adding 'We have suffered as a nation for too long as a result of many discriminatory practices against women. The female youth had laboured in many ways so that the male youth could be educated. It is our firm belief that a nation which discriminates against women has lost the development war ab initio. It is like a person with two legs who wants to run a race on one leg'!

It said the APPI was instructing its legal team to take legal action in the Supreme Court for affected past students and those whose rights are being trampled upon right now, unless steps were taken to compensate all affected women and publicly rectify this injustice to Ghanaian womanhood.