The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has given an assurance that the allegations of sexual abuse involving 19 schoolgirls at Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS) will not be allowed to fade into oblivion without a resolution.
He said the government would pursue criminal prosecution if investigations established sufficient evidence.
He said the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service were conducting independent investigations into the allegations of rape and sexual assault, and urged affected students and their parents to report suspected abuse to the police, as evidence would be crucial to any prosecution.
Addressing the media in Accra on Monday (Oct 26, 2026), Mr Iddrisu said the headmaster's interdiction would remain in place while the investigations continued, with further action dependent on the findings.
“We will work to safeguard and ensure the protection of all students as a statutory duty.
We intend to deploy all administrative and legal tools to achieve this. Today and into the future, this should remain government’s most important priority.
“I call on parents, guardians and students to support government for this to succeed,” Mr Iddrisu stated.
Political affiliation
The Education Minister said the ministry would not allow political affiliation or other considerations to shield anyone found culpable.
Mr Iddrisu stressed that all parties must respect due process and ensure that the affected students received the necessary protection and support.
As part of measures to strengthen students’ protection, the minister directed the Ghana Education Service (GES) to ensure that no student serves a headmaster or teacher as if they were domestic servants.
“Accordingly, the Director-General of GES has been directed that no student should serve any headmaster or teacher as if they were the domestic servant of the headmaster and teachers, forthwith,” the Education Minister said.
Mr Iddrisu added that the ministry and the GES were pursuing administrative and legal processes to ensure accountability in the allegations of sexual abuse.
He said the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Director-General of the GES were in Obuasi to engage with students and monitor developments following the allegations.
Mr Iddrisu also added that the school had reopened fully to continuing and fresh students for normal academic work to resume.
Safeguarding measures
The Education Minister said as part of the measures, the GES had been directed to place independent safeguarding officers in schools and create confidential reporting channels that bypass headteachers’ offices.
He said the channels were expected to link directly to independent bodies, including the DOVVSU and the GES, to facilitate the reporting and investigation of suspected abuse.
Mr Iddrisu said the ministry was also engaging MTN to establish a dedicated hotline to make it easier for students and other members of the public to report such incidents.
He added that the GES and the Girls Education Unit would institute strict mandatory reporting procedures under which suspected relationships involving abuse of power between teachers and students would trigger immediate suspension and independent review.
The Minister of Education said the ministry would also provide trauma-informed support for the affected students, including the 19 girls identified in the Obuasi case.
He further gave an assurance that whistleblowers would be protected, mentioning journalists who had helped bring the allegations to public attention.
He commended investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni for drawing attention to the matter through his publication on the alleged misconduct and stressed that the allegations must be subjected to the appropriate legal processes.
School regulations review
Mr Iddrisu said the ministry would audit existing school regulations and strengthen monitoring of the conduct of headmasters, teachers and students.
He said discussions would also be held with parents and students to identify gaps in the implementation of existing policies and develop measures to prevent similar incidents.
Mr Iddrisu, however, disclosed that institutional records showed that similar cases of alleged misconduct had been reported in the education sector dating as far back as 2021, citing reported incidents involving Twifo Basic School, Bawku Senior High School, and others in 2022, arguing that the issue should be addressed as a wider safeguarding concern rather than treated solely as an isolated incident.
The Education Minister cautioned against politicising the Obuasi SHTS headmaster’s allegations and urged the public to allow investigations and due process to proceed.
Mr Iddrisu also appealed to the media to avoid stereotyping schools based on such incidents, stating that the safety and security of students remained a priority across the country’s over 720 senior high schools.
