The Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Ernest Kofi Davis, has stated that school environments in the country are generally safe.
“I will say that generally, our schools are safe; the Obuasi case is an example of a bad case that we are investigating.
That is my impression.”
“So, I wish to assure parents that the situation in Obuasi is unfortunate, and we are investigating, and definitely, we will take strong action.
We aim to ensure that the school environment is safe for learning,” Prof. Davis told journalists in his office in Accra.
He was responding to questions on the ongoing saga at the Obuasi SHTS, where the headmaster of the school, Zakaria Abdulai, has been accused of sexually molesting female students of the school.
Currently, about 19 female students of the school are alleged to have been sexually molested or harassed by the headmaster.
Actions taken
Consequently, the GES has interdicted and placed Mr Abdulai on indefinite suspension and ordered him to immediately hand over the management of Obuasi SHTS to the Ashanti Regional Director of Education.
However, on October 20, 2026, the GES directed the Ashanti Regional Education Director and the Obuasi Municipal Education Director to step aside to ensure that investigations proceeded without interference.
With the directive for the regional director to step aside, the management of the school has been shifted to the Deputy Ashanti Regional Director.
Safe environment
Asked whether he was surprised at the incident in the Obuasi SHTS, Prof. Davis said, “I was surprised because schools are meant to be safe places and we do not expect to see what we saw.”
“I am equally a parent and have female children and so, I was disappointed to see what we saw, but I wish to assure everyone that this is not what we want to see and we will fight to ensure that school spaces remain safe,” the DG of the GES assured Ghanaians.
Investigative team
He revealed that an investigative team at the headquarters had already been constituted and given a two-week timeline to complete their work.
Prof. Davis explained that the team had been given two weeks because there were sufficient secondary data resulting from the investigative documentary by Joy News Manasseh Azure Awuni and interested parties willing to testify before it.
He was convinced that the composition of the team gave him the hope that the members would do a good job by looking at the facts and conceptualisation that had given the conclusion in the initial report from the regional level to give a good conclusion.
Putting the investigations by the GES in perspective, Prof. Davis explained that the team put together by the GES was doing so along the lines of the GES Code of Professional Conduct, while the criminal aspect was being handled by the police.
He confirmed that a formal complaint and report had been lodged with the Ghana Police Service for a criminal investigation.
Dismissals
Prof. Davis announced that the service has so far dismissed 10 and terminated one of such reported cases and therefore invited the public to support the GES by reporting such cases.
He touted his administration as one that did not tolerate or condone criminality or wrongdoings, citing the 11 cases as an indication of its zero tolerance.
Prof. Davis said the GES needed the cooperation and collaboration of all to ensure that the bad nuts within the service were cleared out, adding that the service was managing huge numbers of over 300,000 and the cooperation of the public was crucial.
The DG said it was a fact that there were hard-working headmasters in the country who upheld high moral standards and discipline, although he acknowledged that there were also a few bad nuts in the system.
“A few head teachers are undermining the work of many good ones.
The behaviour of one head teacher has led to all of them being viewed in the same light.
There are a lot of good teachers, and of course, we have bad ones.”
“The fact that we have one case that appears to be serious does not mean it reflects the situation in every school in the country,” he stressed.
