Sissala teachers kick against ActionAid’s rape research findings

Teachers of second cycle institutions in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region have strongly protested against the publication of research findings on the level of sexual harassment in Senior High Schools (SHSs)in the District.

The research which was conducted by ActionAid-Ghana has been opposed by the teachers in two separate letters to the NGO.

In both letters, the teachers indicated that they would advise themselves appropriately if the NGO refused to heed to their warning and went ahead to make the findings of the research public.

The NGO undertook the study when a 16-year-old student of Kanton SHS in Tumu in the Sissala East District was raped in 2009 by one of her teachers in the school.

The teacher involved is currently serving a seven-year jail term.

Mr. George Dery, Upper West Regional Manager of ActionAid-Ghana who disclosed this to the GNA in Wa, said on January 27, 2013 another rape incident involving a 16-year-old form one student and a teacher occurred again in the same school.

Mr. Emmanuel Doho, the accused teacher, is currently on remand custody at the Wa Prisons.

According to Mr. Dery, when the first incident happened ActionAid-Ghana conducted a study to find out the extent of sexual harassment among SHS girls in the district so as to make appropriate recommendations to curb the phenomenon if the research identified sexual harassment as an issue.

According to the ActionAid Programme Manager, the research brought out shocking and interesting revelations during a dissemination and validation workshop held in Tumu.

Mr. Dery noted that attempts to publish the findings to name and shame and find a lasting solution to the issue was vehemently opposed by SHS teachers in the district.

He said the reaction of the teachers caused ActionAid-Ghana to back-off from publishing the findings when the incident happened again in the same school for the second time.

ActionAid-Ghana is therefore calling on the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the leadership of schools to take steps to protect vulnerable girls whose parents toiled to invest huge sums of monies in their education with the  hope that their investments would not be in vain.

Source: GNA