Avoid using cruel means to discipline children — Aheto-Tsegah advises teachers
The Director of the National Council for Curriculum Assesment (NCCA) of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Charles Aheto-Tsegah, has cautioned teachers against the use of cruel and unacceptable means to discipline children.
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Rather, he said, parents and school authorities should collaborate to ensure a harmonious teaching and learning environment.
Teachers should also resort to the use of counselling and personal examples in the training of children, Mr Aheto-Tsegah added and pointed out that, a “healthy parent-teacher relationship cannot be achieved if parents undermine the authority of the school.”
Mr Aheto-Tsegah gave the warning at the 67th Speech and Prize-Giving Day of the Ghana National College in Cape Coast.
The theme for the celebration was: “Educating the Youth for Academic and National Development – Our Role.”
Use of the cane
He condemned school authorities who assumed that using the cane and other cruel methods that put fear in students were the only means of ‘disciplining’ children, and said that was not the best way of training children and preparing them for the future.
He advised parents not to condone indiscipline but they should rather be strict and ensure that their children in boarding houses only sent prescribed items to school.
Mr Aheto-Tsegah commended the old students for their contributions to the development of their alma mater and said, “everybody’s contribution is needed to revive the spirit of the founding father, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.”
The Central Regional Minister, Mr Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, said the most valuable asset of any nation was its human resource, adding that any activity that was geared towards that direction must be commended and supported.
Youth development
He said the government was committed to youth development and had provided opportunities to engage them and other stakeholders in meaningful partnerships.
The Headmistress of the college, Mrs Juliana Owusu-Ansah, appealed to parents to stop asking that their children should be permitted to be at every family gathering.
She said besides disrupting their studies, their absence from school often gave the students the opportunity to indulge in undesirable activities such as gambling and loitering.
Mrs Owusu-Ansah also urged parents not to give huge sums of money to their children as “pocket money” since the students did not need such huge amounts in school.
The Head Prefect of the college, Master Yarney Kwesi Badwe, in his report, said the Students Representative Council (SRC) had identified impediments to their academic progress and would work hard to improve on them.
