A disturbing wave of violence is sweeping through our Senior High Schools, with the most recent incidents in Agona Swedru and Cape Coast exposing a deepening crisis of discipline and safety in second-cycle institutions.
On February 19, 2026 during the District Schools Athletics Games at Agona Swedru, a student of Obrachire Senior High Technical School was allegedly pelted with stones by students of Swedru School of Business.
The incident, captured on video, sparked national outrage. The Ghana Police Service confirmed that two 18-year-old and a 20-year-old suspects were arrested and handed over to the Agona Swedru Divisional CID on February 23, 2026 to assist with investigations.
Barely a day later, on February 20, 2026 six students of Aggrey Memorial Senior High School were arrested after allegedly ambushing and brutally assaulting a final-year student of Adisadel College at Pedu Junction in Cape Coast after an inter-colleges sports festival. The victim sustained a fractured eye socket and was treated at the Cape Coast Regional Hospital before being discharged on February 22, 2026.
These incidents follow a troubling pattern. At Berekum SHS, students allegedly beat a night security guard unconscious. At Kade SHS, students were filmed assaulting a teacher over examination enforcement.
Teachers at West Africa SHS and Christian Methodist SHS have also reportedly been attacked during disciplinary confrontations. In Akro SHS, a student allegedly assaulted a teacher and stabbed a security guard with a broken bottle.
The frequency and brutality of these cases have raised urgent national concern.This is no longer coincidence. This is a crisis.
The Chronicle is alarmed and angry at the emerging situation. What is happening in our Senior High Schools defies logic and offends conscience. Students are beating teachers. Students are attacking security guards. Students are ambushing colleagues and fracturing eye sockets and in some cases they are robbing their victims after nearly killing them.This is a criminal behaviour.
The incidents in Swedru and Cape Coast are not isolated outbursts. They are part of a growing culture of indiscipline and violent entitlement. When a student can be kicked to the ground, beaten until his eye is nearly dislodged and robbed of his belongings simply because of school rivalry, something fundamental has collapsed in our social fibre.
And we must ask, are these children not being trained at home? What kind of upbringing produces this level of aggression? Have parents surrendered discipline to schools and schools surrendered authority to fear?
Those involved must face the full rigours of the law. No mercy. No quiet transfers. No internal “disciplinary committees” that sweep matters under the carpet. Court prosecution is the only language that will send a message loud enough for others to hear.
This lackadaisical attitude toward student misconduct must end. Too often, we excuse brutality as youthful exuberance. Too often, we prioritise reputations over justice. Too often, we protect offenders more than victims.
If an 18-year-old can organise or participate in a mob assault, he is old enough to understand the consequences of crime. The law must teach lessons that homes and institutions have failed to instil.
Our schools must not become breeding grounds for violence. They are meant to produce disciplined and responsible citizens, not lawless gangs in uniforms.
If swift, firm action is not taken now, we risk normalising barbarity in places meant for learning. And that would be a tragedy far greater than any single assault.
The time for outrage is now. The time for decisive action is now. And the message must be clear: violence in our schools will not be tolerated not today, not ever.
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The post Editorial: Schools Must Not Become Breeding Grounds For Violence; GES, Police Must Crack The Whip appeared first on The Ghanaian Chronicle.
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