By Saio Marrah
In order to solicit more complaints of sexual abuse in schools, pupils have called on the education ministry to send supervisors to whom they would be confident enough to report cases of sexual harassment and abuse that they face in schools.
This was revealed by Rebecca K. Yongai, a pupil from the Bishop Johnson Memorial School in Freetown during questions and comments session at a “National Town Hall on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence” held in Freetown on Monday, July 8th 2024, which was graced by several top government and non-government officials.
Her suggestion received loud applause, especially from her fellow pupils from various schools present at the event.
The pupil went on to suggest that supervisors charged with that task should be performing counselling roles as well, and that it should be on a routine basis.
She however admitted that her school has a suggestion box, but that it is placed right in the office of the school principal, making it difficult for pupils to drop any complaint into the box because they don't want to be seen doing so.
Earlier during the panel discussion, the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Conrad Sackey, said they believe that the school should be a safe place for pupils to be able to learn. He said therefore they have a school safety policy.
He said they also have a policy on the education sector plan that monitors the gender differences between the boys and girls as they access, stay and progress in the education system through which they ask questions about happenings in schools. He said that includes comprehensive sex education in schools.
According to him, the reason for more cases being reported on SGBV from school is because the pupils are now more knowledgeable on the issue and that they know what to do. He went on to say that besides comprehensive sex education, there are boys and girls clubs in schools being supported by government’s development partners.
Sackey added that because the ministry believes that the leadership of schools needed to know about the issue in order to prevent it, the ministry trains school management leaders and board of directors so they can hold school leaders accountable.
The minister said they also have a code of conduct for school teachers towards pupils.
He however admitted that with all those strides yet there are still cases of sexual abuse in schools, but that what they do as a ministry is to suspend teachers with pin-codes alleged to have committed sexual abuse until the conclusion of the investigation. If found guilty in a court of law, the very teacher will be sacked immediately.
He said the challenge is with the community teachers without a contract with the Teaching Service Commission (TSC). He said when they are being alleged of such misconduct the ministry does not have the means to punish them, but that the ministry is working on a mechanism to impose the same contract to those teachers so they will be held accountable.
He also pointed out that there is a grievance redress mechanism in the ministry for which they invite the general public to report SGBV cases. He said to ensure that is effective they have a situation room with a free toll line: 8060.
He also acknowledged that there are suggestion boxes within schools but where they are being placed is not favourable for pupils to utilise them.
Sackey therefore said the ministry is planning to take those boxes outside the school settings so that the school pupils can be free to utilise them.
Several other panelists including the Chief Justice, Inspector General of Police, Minister of Gender and Children Affairs and the Minister of Health highlighted the strides their ministry have taken in the fight against SGBV.
The event was meant to have a discussion on how to end SGBV against girls and women in the country.
The Executive Director of Rainbo Initiative, Daniel Kettor, did a PowerPoint presentation on a survey his institution in collaboration with the Carter Center undertook with the title “Underlying Risk Factors of GBV, Social Norms and Acceptability of Violence Survey.
In its findings, influence of social norms, ineffective support for GBV survivors, compromise on sexual matters, awareness of GBV risk, underreporting of abuse and perception of law enforcement were highlighted.
It recommended strengthening community engagement, a sustainable support system, Justice and accountability, a Multi-sectoral approach and others. Similar events were promised to be held in other parts of the country.
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