GES should liaise with GHS to develop protocol for managing sick students — EduWatch

The Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) has called on the Ghana Education Service to liaise with the Ghana Health Service to develop detailed guidelines and protocols for managing sick students in senior high schools.

In a statement issued on February 12, Africa Education Watch said such a protocol is necessary to address the lack of explicit guidelines on health case management in Senior High Schools.

"A rapid diagnosis of these events points to one thing - the lack of explicit guidelines on health case management in Senior High Schools. This gap leaves school authorities to act with discretion in determining whether a sick student should be either treated in school and discharged, sent home for treatment, taken to hospital by school authorities for treatment or be handed to their parents for treatment in a hospital," said Africa Education Watch.

The education think tank noted that the discretionary powers of school authorities, while diligently exercised most times, is subject to abuse through biases.

"In addition, the lack of case management protocols blurs accountability, as there are no standards to measure actions of duty bearers against," Africa Education Watch noted.

Africa Education Watch stated that developing clear guidelines and protocols would help address incidents of deaths resulting from wrongful denial of treatment to sick students.

It cited at least four widely reported deaths in senior high schools due to refusal of exeats, particularly the recent case at Aburi Girls Senior High School in the Eastern region.

"This is unacceptable! Ghana is the only country operating a public boarding secondary education system, with over one million students in boarding houses.

“Our schools have grown in population from institutions of learning to full communities, with some schools having about 6,000 students and staff on campus. It is therefore important to prioritise the delivery of primary healthcare in our schools and strengthen the referral systems," Africa Education Watch observed.