Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has raised concerns over increasing indiscipline in senior high schools across Ghana, describing it as one of the biggest challenges facing the education sector and pledging decisive action to reverse the trend.

Speaking at Adonten Senior High School in the Eastern Region on Wednesday, June 10, the minister said the government would make tackling student misconduct a top priority in 2026, with plans to convene a national conference bringing together key stakeholders to develop lasting solutions.

"One of the major problems we will deal with this year, 2026, will be stemming the growing indiscipline in our schools, particularly at the secondary education level," the Minister said.

He announced that the conference, expected to be held in Kumasi or Sunyani before the end of July, will bring together educators, academics, religious leaders, traditional authorities, parents and education officials to discuss practical measures to restore discipline in schools.

"We expect to hold a national conference in Kumasi on or before the end of July, where we expect that educators, academia, the church, moral society, the Muslim community, chiefs, parents, regional and district directors of education, and headmistresses will converge to deal with stemming the growing indiscipline in our schools," he stated.

The minister said that the responsibility for raising disciplined children does not rest solely with schools but begins at home.

"We have always maintained that parenting is a shared responsibility of the father and mother and then the teacher," he said.

He also blamed the growing influence of social media for contributing to the problem, saying that many young people are increasingly relying on platforms that expose them to false information and negative influences.

"But we are losing many of them to social media, which has become a toxic source of misinformation, and many young people are relying on it," he said.

He expressed confidence that the planned conference would provide valuable ideas from education experts on addressing the challenge.

"But when we meet, I'm sure we'll take lessons from those educationists as to how to deal with it. But it must begin with responsible parenting and responsible teaching," the minister said.

The Minister also expressed satisfaction with the food supply situation in senior high schools, saying students were no longer facing the shortages that had affected schools in previous years.

"I'm also happy to note that at least for the first time in many years, you are not suffering from food shortages in school," he said.

According to the minister, changes in the financing of the Free Senior High School feeding programme have improved food distribution across the country.

"Thanks to the decapping of the GETFund. The GETFund, through the Ghana Commodity Exchange and the Buffer Stock, is adequately making sufficient provisions for food," he explained.

"So at least the feeding component of the Free Senior High School is now being managed well with GETFund funding."

He disclosed that the government has allocated GH¢4 billion this year to cater for student feeding nationwide.

The Education Minister also announced plans to improve educational infrastructure, revealing that the World Bank is expected to approve a US$300 million facility on June 16 to support school expansion projects across Ghana.

"Only next week, the World Bank will meet on the 16th of this month to give approval to what we have promised of expanded infrastructure," Mr Iddrisu said.

He explained that the funding will be used to upgrade 30 Category C senior high schools to Category B status and 20 Category B schools to Category A.

"We intend to convert 30 Category C schools to B and 20 Category B schools to A with 300 million U.S. dollars for expanded infrastructure across the country," he stated.

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Education Minister raises alarm over SHS indiscipline, announces national reform conference

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