Child Right International (CRI) has asked the Ghana Education Service (GES) not to render an unjust treatment to some female students of Chiana Senior High School (SHS) who were seen in a video slandering President Akufo-Addo.

It will be recalled that about four female students believed to be in their second year in the Kassena Nankana West District denigrated the President for failing to recover Ghana’s dwindling economy.

In a viral video, these students were heard saying“Akufo-Addo, why? Why? We need your head for money rituals,” they shouted while using other unprintable words.

The GES, reacting to the audio-visual content released a press statement assuring the President and Ghanaians that the development will be investigated and the right punishment applied accordingly.

Responding to the GES’ press statement, the Executive Director of Child Rights International, Bright Appiah pleaded with the service to be considerate when issuing punitive measures against these young.

He stated that the students should not be victimized but rather should be reformed.

He explained that, “when children exhibit things that are abnormal the interest of the state is to correct that abnormality. The system of correcting that behaviour is not a kind of system that should bring victimization. It is not a kind of system that should tarnish the image of the children but it should be the system that will reform them and then rehabilitate them so that they can see things from the normal perspective in terms of how the state expects children will behave at the particular age and all that.”

“Looking at all the concerns raised by Ghana Education Service and also the judge of the region. It clearly points to the fact that something went wrong and that thing must be corrected. But what will be of concern to us is that the state itself sees that behaviour as abnormal and the process of engaging to correct them is what we call the rehabilitation program that needs to be instituted.

Mr Bright Appiah asked the government to implement good rehabilitation systems to deal with children who exhibit abnormal conduct.

This, he believes will help transform recalcitrant children in our society.

Source: The Independent Ghana