The Ghana Education Service (GES) has stated that prevention, support, and accountability are critical in addressing sexual harassment and gender-based violence (GBV) in schools.
According to GES, GBV was significantly impacting students, teachers, and staff in the education sector, with disturbing rates and statistics.
Mrs. Gifty Sekyi Bremansu, the Director of Guidance and Counseling at GES, said these during the launch of the 16 Days of Activism for Safer Schools and the Nationwide Campaign against Gender-Based Violence in Secondary Schools in Accra.
The Safe Schools Programme, which was introduced by GES in 2018, aims to eliminate all forms of violence against children in schools, ensuring a safe and conducive environment for teaching and learning.
The theme for this year’s campaign is ‘‘Safe Spaces, Empowered Voices, Ending Sexual Harassment in our Schools: Gender-based violence remains a pervasive issue in our schools.’’
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, observed annually from November 25 to December 10, is a global initiative that urges governments, policymakers, and other stakeholders to unite, reflect, and take decisive action to address issues affecting the well-being of children.
Mrs. Bremansu said it was imperative for educators and teachers to integrate GBV prevention into the curriculum.
‘‘ …Over here, I want to reiterate that with the support of our partners, CAMFED and T-TEL, we have developed Learner Guidance Service that is a curriculum geared towards value-based learning which will guide our learners to be equipped with the necessary skills to overcome this canker,’’ she said.
Mrs. Bremansu harped on the need to promote healthy relationships through guidance services in schools and challenging harmful gender stereotypes to prevent GBV.
She noted that such initiatives would also empower students to speak out if they experienced any form of attack.
Mrs. Bremansu also highlighted the importance of providing safe and confidential reporting channels, counseling services, and guidance support for survivors at all levels of education, particularly at the school level.
She urged counselors, District Directors, and other stakeholders to ensure that those trained to provide therapeutic services did so effectively and responsibly.
Mrs. Bremansu shared findings from a study commissioned by UNICEF Ghana in 2022, which showed that 51 percent of Ghanaian students were aware of sexual harassment, while 49 percent were unaware.
She added that female respondents felt more vulnerable to school-related gender-based violence.
The study further revealed that corporal punishment remained a challenge, with 71 percent of the respondents indicating that sexual corporal punishment was still being practiced in schools.
‘‘We want to ensure that perpetrators, I mean perpetrators, are held accountable and that our schools have zero tolerance for school-related based gender violence with the support of the GES legal units,’ Mrs. Bremansu said.
She called on all stakeholders, including parents, to join the efforts in combating GBV and stressed the need for continued support from development partners, especially in terms of research and capacity building for both students and teachers to prevent sexual harassment.
Mrs. Bremansu also appealed to traditional authorities, clergy, and imams to use their platforms to advocate against GBV in their communities.
She urged students to speak out against GBV, support their peers, and foster a culture of respect and inclusivity within their schools.
Ms. Dinah Adiko, the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Key Advisor for Transforming Teaching, Education, & Learning (T-TEL), announced that a guideline for addressing sexual harassment in secondary education institutions had been developed.
This initiative led to mandatory online training for all 68,000 secondary school teachers in Ghana.
She shared that, as of six months ago, 55 per cent of teachers had completed the training, 15 per cent were still in progress, and 20 per cent had yet to begin.
Teachers who complete the training will help roll out the campaign in their schools.
Mr. Stephen Abamfo, the Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, said the guidelines for teachers would be distributed to ensure they fully understand the consequences of sexual harassment and how to prevent it.
He said that the goal was to uphold high standards and ethical conduct in schools.
Mr. Abamfo spoke about the success of the Back-to-School campaign, aimed at re-enrolling students who had dropped out due to circumstances like teenage pregnancy.
To further the campaign’s impact, a competition is being held to identify the most active school in each of the 16 regions for promoting GBV awareness.
The winning school will receive a prize of GHC 16,000.
The competition, part of the 16 Days of Activism, is designed to ensure that the message about sexual harassment reaches a wide audience.
