By Winifred Lartey

Copyright asaaseradio

The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, is demanding strong action against students of the Bolgatanga Technical Institute who participated in a violent protest in August this year that resulted in the burning of the school’s library and the housemaster’s office, leading to the subsequent closure of the institution.

It would be recalled that in the late hours of Monday, 18 August, students set fire to portions of the school in violent protest.

Fire officers were called and arrived at the scene within minutes, deploying both offensive and defensive firefighting tactics, bringing the fire under control by 1:46 a.m. and fully extinguishing it by 1:56 a.m.

School officials confirmed that books, office furniture, equipment, and other property were destroyed, prompting the Upper East Regional Minister, Donatus Akamugri Atanga, to order the school’s closure.

During his visit to the institution, Minister Iddrisu emphasized that the Mahama administration would not tolerate indiscipline among students.

“When discipline breaks down, every other thing falls and every other thing breaks down,” he told teachers and officials. “You cannot take the law into your own hands and walk free.” The minister stressed that discipline is central to character building, which forms part of educators’ core responsibilities beyond literacy and numeracy.

Iddrisu gave the school’s principal seven days to submit an investigation report to the Director General of the Ghana Education Service, with an additional seven days for disciplinary action to be implemented.

“Within the next 14 days, I want to see some stringent disciplinary action be meted out without fear or favor on this matter,” he declared. The minister assured teachers of full state support in maintaining discipline, telling them, “You have the full support of the state. President Mahama and his ministers have faith and confidence in you and your leadership.”

The minister used the incident to illustrate the consequences of indiscipline, noting that instead of him voluntarily promising new infrastructure, the school was now “holding a calabash begging” for basic facilities after destroying their own property.

“You are asking us to come and build a new library block for you. You are holding a calabash in front of the state,” he said, explaining that he ordinarily, no one should be rewarded for their destructive behavior with good things.. Iddrisu referenced the “carrot and stick” approach, emphasizing that rewards should only come for behavior worthy of emulation, while wrongdoing must face appropriate consequences through the disciplinary courts of both the institution and the Ghana Education Service.

Reporting by Mark Smith in the Upper East Region

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