By Gifty Xornam Adonoo
Some concerned Ghanaians have expressed their opinions on alternative punishments that can be meted out to the eight Chiana Students who publicly disrespected the President following the president’s intervention in their dismissal.
The news about the dismissal of the eight students generated a lot of reactions from Ghanaians causing the President to intervene shortly after.
In response to this, GBC news sought the views of Ghanaians on alternative sanctions that could serve as a form of correction.
A bulk of those consulted believe the dismissal of the students was rather a harsh punishment and suggested other forms of punishment.
“Every school and institution has rules and regulations that govern it so I believe the high school in question is having enough sanctions for the students. I trust the institution have sanctions in place for the students so let’s go with whatever sanctions the school has for them.”
“Well looking at the students, they are very energetic so a more appropriate punishment would be probably a few days suspension coupled with community labour. Yeah, they can do that job well.”
“There should be some form of punishment for them and then for others too to learn. As for the dismissal, well, it’s now impossible for them to be dismissed but then let’s say a little suspension for them or some corporal punishment for them just to sort of instill some fear of God in them. I believe they will be in order. If we are to take it to the extreme, you know this gender advocate and stuff, they are going to be up in arms so there’s not much to do because the president has decided so.”
However, some people also believe that the 8 students should no longer be punished but instead pardoned for their mistakes.
“I personally think they should not punish the kids again. From the point that, why do we punish people? You punish people for them to stop what they were doing earlier on or something like that and looking at how the girls came out and asked for forgiveness, I think on that part, they are okay now. What the girls need now is people to counsel them so that they can become good people in the society in the near future. Punishing them again won’t bring anything different in their life. Right now, they need people to coach them to become good people in our society.”
“They should make them sign a bond of good behavior. Yeah. They shouldn’t dismiss them.”
A young man from the interviews however, noted that the dismissal was the best punishment to be meted out to the students to serve as a warning to their colleagues in school but since the intervention has already taken place, the students should be made to work on campus during class hours.
“I don’t want the president to intervene so that they get to serve the punishment. The dismissal will mean that no other school will admit them and then it will be a lesson to others that you just don’t go about insulting elderly people. Charley, a whole president of Ghana. But now that the president has intervened, I think the best punishment they can give to them should be more like a suspension. But this suspension, they are not going home o, you let them stay in school, they won’t go to class and let them work. So they will be in school and just be working whilst their colleagues go to school. Not to go home but stay in school, fetch water, scrub the toilet . Like let them be doing works in school for at least either a month or 3 weeks. They should just be in the school and be working. No class for them,” he stressed.
