Mr. Bright Appiah, the Executive Director of Child Rights International, has opposed the decision of the management of Adisadel College to dismiss the culprit and suspend other students in the viral violent assault video.
Adisadel College recently announced the immediate dismissal of the students involved in the incident, pending the final decision of the school’s Board of Governors and the Ghana Education Service (GES).
The Ghana Education Service has also condemned the actions of the students involved in the assault.
However, Bright Appiah believes that the school’s management made an error in dismissing the students.
In an interview on Oyerepa Breakfast Time, Mr Appiah stated that it is not within the jurisdiction of the GES to sack the culprit.
“I don’t think it is within the hands of the Ghana Education Service to sack the culprit. Sometimes we need to understand that once a child is in school, there’s an applicable administrative law that guides how they should behave, and as a result of that, the system can decide to administer some form of punishment, but that does not bring closure to the matter.” He said.
The child rights activist pointed out that there is a juvenile justice act that outlines how such matters should be handled.
“We have a juvenile justice act that shows how such a matter should be handled, so if GES has administered their administrative procedure and they believe that will be the solution, so be it.”
He stressed that the root cause of the incident falls under the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Justice Act, and it is expected that the legal system will address it accordingly.
“The main cause of the action falls within the juvenile justice act, and we expect that the system will also pick it up and address it. Because a child should not be left alone in society, I don’t think sacking the student is within the hands of Ghana’s education service to determine.”
“Assaulting somebody. You don’t only need administrative procedures to deal with it; it’s a crime. So if it’s assault, then the right framework must deal with that aspect of it. For you to issue an administrative order, you should come to the conclusion that the mind or presence of the student poses a threat to others, and for that matter, a recommendation says that child has to be removed.”
“The management made an error unless they can provide evidence from psychologists who have concluded that the presence of the child poses a threat to others.” Mr Bright Appiah told Kwesi Parker-Wilson, host of the show.
Source: oyerepafmonline.com/KAB
