In recent times, become grounds for unrest rather than learning. Hon. Volmeng David Nansong, the Regional Secretary for the Parent Teachers Association (PTA), sat reflecting on an alarming trend: student riots erupting across the region’s secondary schools.
His thoughts, captured in an Apexnewsgh documentary titled “The Broken Chalkboards,” produced by Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen, were not only observations but a rallying call to action. For parents, educators, and policymakers alike, this was no longer a problem to ignore.
David Nansong spoke with the gravity of one entrusted with the hopes of parents and the future of children. “As secretary to the PTA,” he began, “I see the immense role parents play. But what’s truly causing these issues in our secondary schools?”
He leaned forward, voice steady: “There are two main issues. The first is the use of mobile phones.”
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https://youtu.be/GSQR3-T6EaE.
Mobile phones, once symbols of progress and communication, had become the root of chaos. Although regulations prohibited their use in schools, compliance was abysmally low. Many students did not, in fact, buy these devices themselves; parents, often unknowingly, supplied them. Others acquired phones through less innocent means: gifts from boyfriends, odd jobs, or even theft.
School administrators, recognizing the danger, had begun confiscating these devices. The response from students was swift and organized. Plans were hatched to incite confusion and riots, creating opportunities to break into storage rooms, most notably, the senior house master’s office, where confiscated phones were kept.
“I can mention Zamse Senior High Technical, Bolga Senior High, and others,” he recounted, “where students broke in and reclaimed their phones. Fortunately, the school management, with the help of the students themselves, identified and apprehended the culprits, who were handed over to the police.”
But the aftermath was sobering. Offices vandalized, damages incurred, and in some instances, violence escalated, libraries burned, water systems destroyed, all in pursuit of forbidden phones.
The second major catalyst was the spillover of local conflicts, particularly the recent unrest in Bawku. Rivalries between tribes, which found their way into school corridors, fanned the flames of discord. “The conflict didn’t remain in the community,” Nansong explained, “it spilled into the schools, especially in rural areas. Students affiliated with opposing tribes carried tensions into classrooms, turning academic environments into battlegrounds.”
It was not uncommon, he noted, for a spark in one school to ignite unrest in another. Through informal networks and social media, students coordinated actions across institutions, threatening the fragile peace that school authorities struggled to maintain.
A third, subtler factor was the introduction of the Free Senior High School policy. While the initiative was lauded for making education accessible to all, it unintentionally eroded accountability. “Students now believe that regardless of their performance, they’ll remain in school. There is no demotion, no consequence for failure,” Hon. Nansong observed. “Whether they study or not, promotion is guaranteed.”
This lack of academic consequence bred apathy. The abolition of corporal punishment, though a progressive step, left teachers wary. Fearful of repercussions, teachers hesitated to enforce discipline. “Students took this as license to misbehave. Teachers, uncertain of their limits, often turned a blind eye,” Nansong lamented.
The cumulative effect was a student body emboldened to challenge authority, sometimes going as far as publicly insulting national leaders on social media, and a teaching staff rendered powerless to intervene.
As if these challenges were not enough, the years 2023 and 2024 brought a new crisis: food shortages in schools. Adolescents, still growing and hungry, found themselves subsisting on meager rations, plain maize, garri and beans, porridge without sugar. “At that age, they cannot sustain hunger for long,” Mr. Nansong pointed out. “The lack of proper nutrition led to frustration and, for some, the riots became an outlet for their grievances.”
School leaders, bound by bureaucracy and perhaps fear of reprisal, rarely spoke openly of these shortages. Yet, for those in leadership, the link between inadequate feeding and student agitation was clear.
By 2025, however, the situation seemed to improve. Reports of food scarcity dwindled, and the frequency of demonstrations reduced. The only major incident that year stemmed from renewed tribal conflict, not deprivation.
Hon. Nansong’s message to parents was stern: “Charity begins at home. Parents must be vigilant about what their children bring to school, especially mobile phones.” He urged parents to interrogate the source of any phone call received from their child at school, to visit schools regularly, and to keep in touch with teachers.
He recounted a tragic incident where a student, believed by his parents to be attending school, drowned at a hotel swimming pool. School records revealed the student had never reported for the term. “If parents had checked, they would have known,” Nansong said, underscoring the need for constant communication between home and school.
Recent debates over student appearance, particularly the directive for students to keep their hair neat and trimmed, sparked national conversation. Mr. Nansong supported the Education Minister’s stance, comparing school regulations to those of security services and training colleges.
“In the security services, there are prescribed hairstyles and uniforms. Nursing trainees can’t do their hair anyhow. Why should this be an issue for our students?” he asked. He emphasized that neatness did not preclude natural hair, but rather discouraged neglect and disorder.
He dismissed comparisons to the Achimota Rastafarian case, noting that religious exceptions were different from general discipline. “This is not about curtailing freedom; it’s about instilling the standards needed for communal learning and personal responsibility.”
Hon. Nansong’s reflections were not a condemnation of today’s youth. “Not all students are bad,” he affirmed, “but certain behaviors threaten the peace and progress of all.” He recounted with sadness how, at Zamsi Senior High, students vandalized the senior housemaster’s office and stole confiscated mobile phones before their final exams. The responsible students were held accountable for the damages. “If a poor widow sends her child to school, and the child destroys property, it is only fair that the student pays for it,” he reasoned. “If you know your background, you should behave responsibly, so you can one day lift your family out of hardship.”
Hon. Nansong described a pattern of self-sabotage: students burning the school library, the very resource meant for their benefit, and destroying water systems they depended on. “Secondary schools do not have the internal funds to repair such damage. It must be the students who are responsible,” he insisted. The PTA, he noted, supports school management in addressing legitimate institutional needs—not willful destruction.
With the causes laid bare, Hon. Nansong outlined a set of pragmatic solutions to stem the tide of unrest:
- Parental Control over Mobile Phones
Parents must take responsibility to ensure that their children do not bring mobile phones to school. “It’s not just a rule, it’s a necessity for maintaining order,” he stressed.
- Reintroducing Demotion and Academic Consequences
He advocated for the Ghana Education Service to restore the policy of demotion for underperformance. “If students know they can be demoted, they will take their studies seriously. Free education should not mean free from accountability.”
- Implementing Cut-Off Points for Admission
The current open-access policy, he argued, allows anyone, regardless of academic merit, to attend secondary school. Introducing a cut-off point, an aggregate score of 35 or 40, for example, would motivate students to work harder and appreciate the privilege of education.
- Strengthening Guidance and Counseling
Guidance and counseling units should be fully resourced and relieved from teaching duties. “Counseling is a full-time job, especially at the adolescent stage, which is complex and vulnerable to negative influences,” Hon. Nansong explained.
- Leveraging Technology for Monitoring
Hon. Nansong proposed the use of technology to track student attendance and movement. By creating a communication platform, such as a WhatsApp group or SMS system, schools can keep parents informed when their child leaves or returns to school. “Parents must be abreast of their children’s whereabouts at all times,” he said. Such a system would also allow early intervention if a student begins to abscond or engage in risky behavior.
He further suggested organizing parent forums, where teachers and parents meet in small groups to discuss individual students, review academic transcripts, and address behavioral issues. “We must encourage and reward good behavior, not just punish the bad,” he added.
In closing, Hon. Volmeng David Nansong called for a return to the foundational values of discipline and responsibility. He praised the Education Minister’s efforts to reintroduce traditional standards, expressing hope that, with collaboration among parents, teachers, and students, the cycle of unrest could be broken.
“Students are the future leaders,” Hon Nansong reminded. “If we fail to guide them now, we risk the future of our nation. Nature will require that they take up the mantle someday, whether we like it or not.”
He appealed to all stakeholders to work together, not just in enforcing rules, but in nurturing the next generation. “Let us not wait for a crisis to act. Let us restore the discipline and harmony that once defined our schools, ensuring that every child has the chance to learn, to grow, and to lead.”
As the sun set over the Upper East Region, the echoes of student unrest still lingered in the memories of many. Yet, with leaders like Hon. Volmeng David Nansong speaking out and parents and educators heeding the call, hope remained that the broken chalkboards could be mended, and that classrooms would once again become sanctuaries of learning and growth.
This story is based on the documentary “The Broken Chalkboards” and the views of Hon. Volmeng David Nansong, as shared with Apexnewsgh. It serves as a call to action for all who believe in the power of education and the importance of community in shaping the leaders of tomorrow.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen
