The Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), has called on the government to urgently review the Positive Discipline Policy as part of efforts to combat rising cases of indiscipline and violent behaviour in Ghana’s senior high schools.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, Eduwatch’s Executive Director, Kofi Asare, emphasised that the policy, introduced approximately seven years ago, has reached a point where its effectiveness must be critically assessed.
According to him, the current approach to promoting discipline in schools has failed to yield the desired results, necessitating a comprehensive review to address its shortcomings.
Eduwatch’s call for a policy review comes at a critical time when stakeholders are grappling with the need to balance the protection of students’ rights with the need for effective disciplinary measures.
Kofi Asare highlighted the urgent need for a reassessment of the Positive Discipline Policy, noting that its inability to deter unacceptable behavior among students has rendered it ineffective.
He clarified, however, that Eduwatch is not advocating for the reintroduction of corporal punishment.
“After implementing the Positive Discipline Policy for about seven years, Eduwatch called for a review of the policy two years ago because the policy says no corporal punishment and the teachers say that those recommendations do not deter in anyway and so there must be a review of the policy but I am not saying that we should reintroduce corporal punishment.
“A policy which has been in place for seven years is long time enough to review it and assess its level of effectiveness especially where it has sufferred high level of inertia by teachers. So we should review the policy to see how we can strengthen it in relation to enforcing proper behaviour in our secondary schools.”
The Positive Discipline Policy was introduced to replace corporal punishment, which had been widely criticised for its harsh and potentially abusive nature.
The policy sought to create a more child-friendly and humane approach to disciplining students by emphasising non-violent methods such as counseling, mentorship, and behavioral interventions.
However, the implementation of the policy has faced significant challenges.
Teachers, who are the primary enforcers of discipline, have expressed concerns that the policy lacks the necessary tools to deter misconduct effectively.
This perceived lack of enforcement mechanisms has contributed to growing incidents of violence and other forms of indiscipline in schools.
Recent reports of violent incidents in senior high schools have sparked public concern about the state of discipline among students.
From vandalism and physical altercations to attacks on teachers, these incidents have raised questions about whether the current policy framework is adequate to address the behavioral challenges faced by educational institutions.