Bawku crisis: Former GES boss criticises decision to deploy military to supervise WASSCE

A former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Dr. Kwabena Bempah Tandoh, has criticised the Bawku Municipal Security Council’s decision to deploy military escorts for students writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Dr Tandoh described the move as counterproductive, arguing that the presence of armed security forces in examination centers could traumatize rather than protect the students.

The decision by local authorities comes amid renewed tensions and violent clashes in the Bawku municipality, which have raised concerns about the safety of students commuting to and from examination centers.

The Bawku Municipal Security Council insists the military escort is a necessary precaution to safeguard lives and ensure the smooth conduct of the exams.

“We will send security, we will bus them, we don’t want them to come by themselves. We will look for school buses to bring them to the campus. And then we will put police and military on the campus so that these students can write their exam in peace,” Bawku Municipal Chief Executive, Isaac Azunaba, explained.

Final year students of the Nalerigu Senior High School are also affected by the closure of the school following the murder of two students there last week.

The North East Regional Minister Ibrahim Tia says a similar military escort is being considered.

But the former Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Dr. Kwabena Tandoh, says the Service and the Ministry of Education must use an existing playbook already developed to respond to such situations.

According to him, going ahead with the exam under these conditions will not augur well for the mental condition of the candidates.

“This stage, the playbook says, work closely with WAEC. They are the ones mandated for examination. And then what you do is, you look at where you’re deploying the children to. They are all going home. WAEC has exam centres across the country. So what you do is, give letters of authentication to each student to be sent to the nearest centre…”

“You can accommodate these students on these other campuses so that they can actually write the exam, not under armed guards, but in a peaceful and serene environment.”

Based on this approach, he believes students who live in Bawku can be sent to “neighbouring safer municipalities.”

“You can send that child to Tamale,” he added.

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