The minority caucus in Parliament has reacted to the decision of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to dismiss the eight female students of the Chiana Senior High School who were caught in a viral video last year insulting the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

According to the caucus, the decision of the Ghana Education Service is harsh and retrogressive.

“In this age and time when there is increased advocacy and a renewed focus on increasing access to education any decision that takes a child away from the classroom can only be seen as an absolute drawback to this renewed focus and objective.”

“It is therefore, regrettable to learn of the decision of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to dismiss the eight female students of the Chiana SHS in the Kassena Nankana West District of the Upper East region for insulting the President of the Republic some months ago.” the caucus said.

In a statement issued and signed by Peter Nortsu-Kotoe (MP), the ranking member and Parliament’s Education Committee, the caucus affirmed that every child including the eight students in Ghana deserved to be in school in accordance with Article 25 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and also Goal(4) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

They, therefore, appealed to the Ghana Education Service to review its decision and ensure that the education of the victims was not truncated but rather should rather sanction the victims with corrective punishment.

The Minority also appealed to President Akufo-Addo to pardon the students as he did in 2020 when some students misconducted themselves towards him.

“This we believe would be in the best interest of our collective goal to ensure that every Ghanaian child has access to formal education,” the caucus added.