Ministry of Education creates direct reporting channels for sexual abuse complaints after Obuasi SHTS case
The Ministry of Education is creating direct reporting channels, including a hotline, to allow students, parents, teachers and community members to report sexual abuse in schools without having to go through head teachers or other local authorities who may be implicated.
Deputy Education Minister Dr Clement Apaak disclosed this on JoyNews’ News Night on Thursday, October 22, 2026, saying the allegations involving the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS) had exposed weaknesses in the existing reporting structure.
“In the wake of this issue, we became aware that there was a challenge within the reporting structure as far as GES is concerned,” he said.
Dr Apaak said the proposed channels would provide an alternative route for complaints to reach the Ministry of Education, enabling authorities to respond to allegations more promptly.
“We believe that if we were to provide a bypass that would allow victims, parents of victims, teaching and non-teaching staff in the schools where some of these despicable occurrences take place, or even community members and leaders, it will make it easier for such complaints to get to the ministry so that we can act tenaciously,” he said.
Dr Apaak stressed that a hotline was one of several reporting options under consideration, acknowledging that students are generally not permitted to carry mobile phones in school.
“The concept of the hotline is one among many other options,” he said.
He cited the Obuasi SHTS case as an example of how complaints could remain unresolved when people who become aware of alleged abuse cannot secure an effective response through existing channels.
“From the documentary, we saw pieces of evidence to suggest that other teachers, a housemistress, and even parents had become aware, and because the structure did not allow them to get the needed response in terms of action, this dragged on,” he said.
The Deputy Minister said the delay may have created opportunities for the alleged abuse to continue and affect other students.
“That may have then given an opportunity to the accused individual to even engage in this conduct and perpetrate this crime against other female students,” he said.
The proposed reporting channels follow allegations of sexual abuse involving the suspended headmaster of Obuasi SHTS, Zakaria Abdulai.
An investigative documentary by journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni examined allegations involving multiple students and raised questions about whether concerns brought to the attention of some school authorities and parents received an adequate response.
The case has prompted calls for stronger safeguarding measures and more effective systems for reporting suspected abuse in schools.
The proposed channels are intended to allow complaints to reach education authorities directly, particularly where school-level officials may be implicated or fail to act.
Dr Apaak did not provide a timeline for the introduction of the new reporting options.
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