Education Minister tells Parliament how senior high school students are peddling marijuana on campuses and how he has directed GES to dismiss such students

Ghana's Minister of Education, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, has acknowledged and confirmed the alarming issue of students peddling marijuana on senior high school campuses across the country. In response to concerns raised in Parliament about growing indiscipline at the pre-tertiary level, the minister stated that such behavior warrants immediate and severe action.

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You will be alarmed that in some secondary schools, a student will have the courage to go and sell wee (Indian hemp), marijuana or cannabis on the school campus and this should merit outright dismissal because if this does not happen, he will poison the rest of the students who are completely innocent

"You will be alarmed that in some secondary schools, a student will have the courage to go and sell wee (Indian hemp), marijuana or cannabis on the school campus and this should merit outright dismissal," Mr. Iddrisu told Parliament. He has consequently directed the Ghana Education Service (GES) to dismiss students involved in selling narcotics and marijuana, warning that failure to do so would allow them to "poison the rest of students who were completely innocent."

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So, we may have to rethink and review our punishment regime and to cloak the Ghana Education Service with authority to deal ruthlessly with any student who misbehaves

The minister's directive follows a concern raised by Professor Kingsley Nyarko, the Member of Parliament for Kwadaso, who inquired about the ministry's interventions to promote discipline in educational institutions. Mr. Iddrisu agreed that indiscipline in Ghanaian schools is a significant problem, describing some incidents as "un-Ghanaian," such as students wielding guns on campus or vandalizing security equipment installed by alumni.

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When you see a Ghanaian student wield a gun in a secondary school, that cannot be the training of a Ghanaian child

Mr. Iddrisu justified the need for a review of the punishment regime, suggesting that the repeal of capital punishment may have contributed to a perceived laxity in enforcing discipline. He cited an instance during the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) where students allegedly assaulted a teacher for preventing them from cheating. The minister stressed that the "heaviest sanctions must be enforced" to address such unacceptable conduct and ensure the integrity of the educational environment.

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That is indiscipline and that is unacceptable and the heaviest sanctions should be meted out to them by the Ghana Education Service