Child Rights International Ghana is calling on the management of Adisadel College to rescind its decision to suspend students who were involved in an assault incident in the school.
The shocking incident showed a student locking the arms of the victim and forcefully hitting his face against a metal bed, resulting in profuse bleeding below the victim’s right eye.
Child Rights International said that the suspension handed to the students involved in the incident is harsh and must be rescinded. Child Rights International also called for a proper investigation to address the criminality of the act.
“The alleged act committed is criminal in nature and the institution must address the criminality of it based on a proper investigation to obtain a social enquiry report that will determine the kind of systems and the punishment regime to be offered to the parties involved. The parties may include the victim, the perpetrator, and non-participating students who encouraged the act and those who have been entrusted with a standard of care.”
The advocacy agency stated in a statement that the Ghana Education Service (GES) should uphold the decision only if the presence of the students in the school poses an extreme threat to others.
“Despite the undeniable role the Ghana Education Service (GES) plays in this case, it is our view that the decision to dismiss the students is not informed by appropriate investigative channels and a social enquiry report. Therefore GES must rescind their decision and reinstate the students in the school unless their presence poses extreme threat to other students and such removal must be in accordance with Section 2 (1), (2), 8 (1).& 18 (1), (m) & (n) of the Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560). Any decision taken in this process must always have the best interest of the CHILD.”
Click here to read the full statement.