The Ghana Education Service (GES) is to enforce a nationwide ban on teachers sending students to their private residences to carry out household chores, following the scandal at Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS).
GES Director-General Professor Ernest Kofi Davis said regional directors would be instructed to ensure schools comply with existing regulations that prevent educators from inviting students to their bungalows for domestic work.
The decision follows allegations that the headmaster of Obuasi SHTS, Zakaria Abdulai, raped 19 students. Investigations into the case, and the public reaction that followed, have raised concerns about the risks created when students are given informal access to teachers’ living quarters.
Professor Davis said asking pupils to perform household duties at staff residences breached the service’s professional standards. He referred specifically to Section 3.7 (V) of the GES code of conduct, which prohibits teachers from involving students in domestic chores.
“I agree with those calling for a ban on students going to teachers’ bungalows. We are going to write to schools to make sure that it doesn’t happen because in our code of conduct, in Section 3.7 (V), it is written that the students are not expected to be asked to engage in household chores,” Professor Davis said.
He said formal instructions would be sent immediately to all regional directors. The directives will remind staff of the code of conduct and reinforce the boundaries governing their relationship with students.
“And so I expect the news to get to all regional directors to remind our staff to familiarize themselves with the code of conduct and cease inviting students to do household chores because the code of conduct does not permit that. It is not acceptable,” he added.
The GES’s move is intended to remove informal contact between students and teachers within staff accommodation, which it believes can create opportunities for misconduct and abuse.
The service also hopes that stricter enforcement of the existing rules will improve protection for students in boarding institutions and strengthen safety across second-cycle schools.
