Restore Code of Discipline in schools, GES- Advocates Anglican Bishop of Sekondi

THE Anglican Bishop of Sekondi, Rt. Rev. Col John K. Otoo (Rtd), has called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to reinstate discipline codes, in all sectors of the country's education.

He said it was long overdue that the technocrats in the education sector, realized the breakdown of the moral standards of the Ghanaian society, as a result of the lack of discipline codes.
These neglected codes, he said, in the past, were hitherto the guiding principles of the upbringing of the school-going child in our country.

“Heads, teachers and pupils, nowadays do not care to know the limitation of their bounds; they do not know their code of conduct, and are careless about discipline, therefore contributing heavily to the breakdown of the moral standard of our society,” he reiterated.

The Rt. Rev Otoo made the call, at the opening and dedication ceremony of a Gh¢20,000 four-class room block, with offices, constructed by the Anglican Education Unit, for the All Saints Anglican KG schools in Takoradi.

According to him, the GES must put in place, a system that would not limit teachers and students, to only knowledge transfer and acquisition respectively, but a system that would instil in them, the discipline of life.

This, he said, would then give society the opportunity to heave a sigh of relief, on the indiscipline which has characterized the lifestyles of many Ghanaian youth.

Further in his argument, he said if the GES was able to put the appropriate measures in place, not only quality education would be achieved in the country, but consistency in sustaining regulations, as well as maintaining law and order in the Ghanaian society.

Bishop Otoo, later in an interview with the press, blamed western influence as the major cause of indiscipline in the society.

According to him, Ghanaians, particularly those who adore western culture, easily give in to their whims and caprices.

Though he conceded that there were other important cultural values of the western countries, which could be beneficial to the Ghanaian, there were also many that were destroying the moral fibre of the Ghanaian.

The Man of God cited neglect of duty by parents and teachers, as some of the causes of the breakdown of the code of discipline, in the educational sector.

The Deputy Western Regional Director of Education, Rev. Veronica Essuman Nelson, in an address, also noted that children were the greatest assets of the country, and it was the duty of government, as well as parents, to properly direct and nurture them, through sound education.

She advised that the involvement of the youth, in social vices like drug addiction, teenage pregnancy, street hawking, and truancy, among others, must be of great concern to all Ghanaians.

Consequently, she called on Ghanaians, particularly parents, to show more concern about their children's education, by providing them with their basic needs.

She as well asked parents, to periodically visit the schools of their wards, to interact with their teachers to know their progress. Parents, she noted, must also embrace the activities of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), to give meaning to the GES policy of community participation in education.