Hooliganism is disruptive behavior such as rioting, bullying, vandalism and physical attacks often involving crowd at sporting events, school campuses among other places. A hooligan is a person who engages in illicit and reckless behaviors which constitute public nuisance. The type of violence committed by hooligans can come in several forms including use of fires, unarmed and armed fighting, harmful statements and occasionally violent acts committed during football matches in the form of stone throwing, use of broken bottles and other dangerous weapons. Lately, hooliganism, characterized by violent behavior has become a concerning issue on school campuses in parts of the country. These incidents have become a matter of serious concern which calls for a national discourse to address it within and outside school premises. Ghana with a sizeable number of its population constituting the youth and a country where youth indiscipline is gradually on the ascendancy, will certainly have to arrests the phenomenon before it balloons into violence and thuggery. While at it we shouldn’t forget same in the Country’s tertiary institutions, demanding a serious security discourse among stakeholders. For most observers, the time has indeed come for National Security to be roped into the exercise of nipping the problem in the bud, not forgetting the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, school Authorities, Parents and Guardians, all in a bid to forestall mass thuggery on school campuses. There is the urgent need to sensitize and empower students to become critical thinkers and innovators so that they can grow up to become responsible adults. Reports of assault and violent attacks on teachers have sparked deep concern within the education sector. In some instances, the threats and attacks come not only from students but also from members of the public, thereby risking the lives of those who take care of our children in school. What we are witnessing currently, is so outrageous, disturbing, worrying, regretful and shameful to say the least.
It sends wrong signals to the outside world about the state of indiscipline in our schools. For instance, in October last year, a teacher of the Christian Methodist Senior High School in Accra, was attacked by students for allegedly not allowing them to cheat during examinations. That teacher we are informed, was ambushed and beaten by the students before being rescued by some good Samaritans. Again, in the Ashanti Region, a teacher at Offinso was reportedly stabbed by a student during an argument. In Accra recently, students of Accra High School were involved in exchange of blows with one of their teachers. There have been some few instances in the recent past in which students were reported to have stabbed and killed one another due to disagreements. Although the Ghana National Association of Teachers. GNAT and the National Association of Graduate Teachers, NAGRAT have raised concerns about these developments, it appears nothing concrete is being done by the Authorities to deal with the situation. The two bodies have issued a stern warning that, if the trend continues, they will use all available means to defend and protect their members. Unfortunate as this may be, one hopes we don’t get to that bridge. Because when such a situation occurs, it will amount to complete breakdown of law in our educational institutions. Hooliganism is becoming a canker and it behooves the Education Authorities and Parent-Teacher Associations to clamp down on such irresponsible behaviour by students against, particularly the teacher. There should be a way out of the situation. And the way out is probably to draw a program for security personnel to quickly step in to resolve students’ grievances promptly. Also, implementing a robust conflict resolution mechanism should be prioritised before any disagreement degenerates. Besides, there should be a national dialogue to explore the root causes of hooliganisms and to develop effective strategies for intervention and prevention. We must also consider revamping counselling services in schools which are crucial to addressing behavioural issues that can contribute to hooliganism on our school campuses. For now, Ghanaians and indeed, all well-meaning individuals will expect government and indeed, the Ministry of Education, GES and its affiliate bodies to take a serious view of this negative development in our education sector. It obviously casts a slur and put a dent on the image, the future and progress of the country’s education.
Written By: Charles Neequaye, former Editor of the Ghanaian Times Newspaper
