Mr. Francis Kanwilley, Senior House Master of Amaniampong Senior High School (SHS) in Asante Mampong, said on Wednesday that the high level of indiscipline among students in second cycle institutions was seriously undermining academic work and progress and called for systematic measures to deal with the situation.
He said the incidence of drunkenness, 'phone sex', lesbianism, gayism, bullying, occultism, and sneaking to town and unauthorized places at night were still common among students in SHSs, adding "this should be a worrying development to all players in education".
Mr. Kanwilley who was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the state of discipline in SHSs, said for example, some students often left unceremoniously to attend all-night services or stayed late in the night to attend to an Indian deity called "rama", only to be late for class the next morning.
"Some people parade themselves as pastors who have powers to anoint pens and handkerchiefs that can be used to excel in examination, and once the students get indoctrinated, the result is low concentration and inattentiveness in class", he explained.
Schools are applying the Unified Code of Discipline for Technical and Senior High School, but given the gravity of the situation, the punitive actions spelt out in the code are not potent enough to address the problem, he said.
Mr. Kanwilley said the Parent Teachers Association had started putting up a fence wall to check truancy while the headmaster had also set up a "mini court" and counseling centre to deal with other offences and psychological problems of students.
The purpose of the mini court is to give students fair hearing in the alleged offences committed in the presence of their parents and the school authority, he explained.
He said the phenomenon was getting entrenched in schools and therefore urged parents, teachers, government and non-governmental organisations to marshal the needed effort to tackle the issue headlong.