The Ghana Education Service (GES) has interdicted the headmaster of St Charles Lwanga Roman Catholic Junior High School in the Saboba District of the Northern Region.
Deputy Education Minister, Rev. Ntim Fordjour, made this known in an interview with JoyNews after he led a delegation to Saboba to commiserate with the families of the victims.
According to him, a committee has been set up to investigate the incident.
“…never again must lives be lost. And the practice of teachers and some heads of schools using pupils as labour to carry out tasks that are unauthorized must be a thing of the past… it is outmoded and an affront to the code of conduct of the GES. Therefore, the necessary actions have been initiated. Immediately the matter came to the attention of GES, the headmaster has been put on interdiction pending further disciplinary action,” he told JoyNews.
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The Tamale Magistrates’ Court on Monday remanded the headmaster, Emmanuel Changer, for two weeks and he is expected to re-appear in court on November 29, 2021.
Mr. Changer is currently in Police custody in connection with the alleged drowning of nine pupils he traveled with, by boat to harvest rice on his farm.
One of the two boats carrying the pupils capsized, leading to the drowning of the nine pupils. However, 21 of them managed to successfully swim to shore.
The Headmaster has been charged with manslaughter.
Meanwhile, the District Chief Executive of Saboba District, George Bigrini said the District Security Committee will deal with teachers who use students as farmhands.
“As I talk to you now, I have asked GES to summon a teachers’ durbar on Wednesday, November 24. All the teachers are expected to be in that durbar and I am going to be very emphatic with them…Any teacher that will be found doing this will be sanctioned. We are going to use the headmaster who sent the children to his farm to set an example for others to learn lesson,” he said.