Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has clarified that the government’s ban on extravagant post-WASSCE celebrations applies to all educational institutions across Ghana, including both public and private schools.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, the Minister said the directive is aimed at protecting the integrity of educational institutions and ensuring that schools remain focused on academic achievement rather than displays of wealth.
Responding to questions about whether the ban affects only public schools, Mr Iddrisu was emphatic.
“It covers all schools in Ghana. It covers all schools in Ghana,” he stated.
According to him, the government will not permit a culture of excessive and lavish celebrations to become entrenched in the country’s educational system.
“We cannot allow this culture to be part of the development of Ghanaian learners. It’s a simple no,” he said.
The clarification follows a recent directive by the Ghana Education Service (GES) prohibiting post-examination celebrations on school premises that involve the presentation of expensive gifts, including motor vehicles and money bouquets, to students.
Addressing concerns that some parents may simply be rewarding their children for completing their education, the Minister acknowledged their right to celebrate but stressed that such activities should not take place on school grounds.
When it was suggested that such gestures could motivate students to work harder in the future, Mr Iddrisu responded, “You don’t need to do that in school.”
He explained that raising and nurturing children is a shared responsibility between parents, guardians, and teachers, with each playing distinct roles in a child’s development.
“Parenting is a shared responsibility between the home and the school. The parent, the significant others, and the teacher share the two environments together,” he said.
Mr Iddrisu further emphasised that schools must remain safe, secure, and dignified environments dedicated to learning and healthy academic competition.
“As for the learning environment, it has remained safe, secured and dignified,” he said. “The school environment is an environment for academic competition, nothing more.”
The Minister also condemned the growing trend of ostentatious displays of wealth on school campuses, describing the practice as unacceptable.
“The extravagant, lavish display of wealth is utterly unacceptable, and we would not tolerate or accommodate that going forward,” he stated.
Mr Iddrisu revealed that some of the incidents that recently sparked public debate occurred without the prior knowledge of either the Ministry of Education or the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service.
“These developments were not known prior to the Director-General of GES and to the Ministry of Education,” he noted.
To strengthen enforcement of the directive, the Minister announced that schools will now be required to obtain approval before organising related ceremonies.
“We have accordingly asked that no institution should proceed with those ceremonies without clear clearance from the Director-General of the GES,” he said.
The government maintains that the policy is necessary to preserve equality, discipline, and the educational values that schools are intended to promote.
