The Ghana Education Service (GES) has interdicted the headmaster of St Charles Lwanga Roman Catholic Junior High School in the Saboba District of the Northern Region.
Jashain Emmanuel is currently on remand in connection with the drowning of 10 pupils he allegedly sent by boat to harvest rice on his farm. The Tamale Magistrates’ Court remanded him to reappear on 29 November.
Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, the director-general of GES, said the headmaster breached the rules of the service.
“It’s a violation of our code of conduct. You’re not supposed to do that so we’re going to apply the rules and regulations to ensure that the proper thing is done. We’ve asked that he should be interdicted and then we investigate the matter,” Opoku-Amankwa told the media in Saboba in the Northern Region.
At least 10 junior high school pupils have been confirmed dead in a boating disaster on the Oti River in Saboba.
Twenty-one pupils were rescued on Friday, said Assistant Superintendent of Police Shine Zokoiku, the Saboba District commander.
The children were returning from a farm on Friday when their vessel capsized on the river.
Commiserates
Meanwhile, the deputy education minister, Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, has led a government delegation to commiserate with the families of the dead boys.
“It’s a tragic loss to the nation and the government shares in the grief of the chiefs and people of Saboba,” he said when he paid a courtesy call on the traditional leaders.
Drowning incidents are common in Ghana, especially in the southern regions, where accidents associated with illegal mining are common. In October, at least four other young people died when their boat capsized on the River Offin in the Ashanti Region.
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