Executive Director of Child Rights International, Bright Appiah, has called for every school in Ghana to adopt a safeguarding policy to protect children from abuse and strengthen reporting and accountability systems within the education sector.
He has also advocated for independent social welfare officers and counselling units within schools to enable children to report abuse promptly and confidently, while improving investigations and oversight of cases involving pupils and students.
Mr Appiah said although Ghana had strong laws for protecting children, weaknesses in coordination and communication among institutions responsible for child protection remained a major concern.
He called for reforms to establish clear procedures for reporting abuse and connecting affected children to the appropriate support services.
“Every single school in this country should have a safeguarding policy,” he said, stressing the need for schools to provide a safe environment where children can report abuse without fear.
Mr Appiah further argued that social welfare officers and counselling units should operate within the school system but remain independent of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to strengthen their oversight role.
“Clearly, there must be a reform of our school system to coordinate them,” he said, adding that children needed clear reporting channels and confidence that their concerns would be handled appropriately.
He explained that relying solely on external child protection services could create difficulties for pupils and students because of the time it might take to access assistance.
Mr Appiah said the presence of independent officers within schools would make it easier for children to report incidents as they occurred, while ensuring that allegations received the necessary attention.
He added that the officers should operate under separate management arrangements to enable them to monitor school environments and report concerns without undue influence from school authorities.
According to him, social welfare officers and counselling units could also serve as the entry points for child protection and social support services in schools, providing counselling and educating children about inappropriate conduct and how to seek help.
He maintained that strengthening these structures would help bridge the gap between Ghana’s child protection laws and their implementation, ensuring that children have accessible and reliable channels to report abuse.
Source: Newspyramid.com
