GES Rules on Sexual Offenses, Selling in School, Using Children to Work, Use of Canes, Drunkenness, Collection of Monies & Penalties

Many people occasionally question what GES stand point is on a number of controversial issues. We have put together the relevant areas many people seek clarity on regarding the unauthorized collection of Monies, teachers bringing their babies to school, Sexual Offenses, Drunkenness, using children to work and other relevant areas. Its associated penalties have also been stated to serve as a guide. All these were adapted or extracted from the GES Approved Code of Conduct.

PART 3
3.0 RULES OF CONDUCT FOR STAFF

3.5 Private Activities during Business
Hours
i)
No teacher shall engage in private
and personal conversation during
lesson period(s) when he/she is
expected to teach or to supervise
pupils at work or play.
ii)
No staff shall trade or transact any
private financial business on the
school premises during school hours.

iii) No staff shall perform unofficial
duties or activities during school
hours without permission from the
head of his/her institution.

3.7 ImproperUse of Children’s Labour
Labour is exploitative of a pupil/student,
if it deprives him/her of education, leisure
or development. Therefore;
i)
No employee shall subject a
pupil/student to any form of
exploitative labour.

ii) A staff shall not use the labour of a
p u p il/st u d e n t i n a n y f o rm
whatsoever with or without the
consent of the parent during contact
hours.
iii) An employee shall not send a child
on errands for him/her during
contact hours.
iv) No staff shall use the labour of
pupils/students for private or
personal service with or without the
consent of their parents or guardians
and of the school head during school
hours.
v) The exploitative activities that staff
shall not engage pupils/students in
shall include but not be limited to:
selling or trading in items, weeding,
farming, carrying of water, sand,
stone and blocks or doing household
chores.

3.8 Protection of Children from Torture and
Other Degrading Treatment
a.
Physical Violence
Physi c a l ha rm infli c t ed on
pupils/students in any form
constitutes a gross violation of the
child’s rights. Consequently;
I)
An employe e sha ll not
administer any act of corporal
punishment, or any act that
inflicts physical pain on the
children or causes physical
harm to their pupils/students
such as pushing, pulling, hitting
and/or flogging.

ii) No st a ff s h a ll s u b j e c t
pupils/students to painful body
posture such as “frog jumping”,
standing in the sun and holding
heavy loads on outstretched
hands.

iii) No employee shall punish a child to
do any work outside the classroom
during contact hours.
iv) No staff shall cause harm to any
pupil/student.
v)
A staff shall not threaten any
pupil/student with harm with intent
to put that person in fear of harm.
vi) No employee shall assault any
pupil/student.
vii) A staff shall not subject a
pupil/student to or encourage other
pupils/students to subject a
pupil/student to torture or other
cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, including
a n y c u l t u r a l p r a c t i c e t h a t
dehumanizes or is injurious to the
physical and mental well-being of
the pupil/student.

c. Sexual Violence
i)
No employee shall directly or
indirectly do anything that may
constitute sexual harassment of a
pupil/student.

ii) Any staff who has carnal knowledge
of any female or male pupil/student
of any age, with or without his/her
consent, shall be guilty of
professional misconduct.
iii) No employee shall compel any
female or male pupil/student in
his/her school or in any educational
institution to marry him/her with or
without the consent of the child’s
parents.
iv) No staff shall have any carnal
knowledge of any pupil/student in
his/her own school or in any pretertiary educational institution with
or without his/her consent.
v) No employee shall serve as a gobetween or knowingly suffer any
female or male pupil/student in
his/her school or any other pretertiary educational institution to
resort to or be in or upon a premise

for the purposes of carnal knowledge
by any person or by himself/herself.
vi) No staff shall cause or encourage the
seduction, carnal knowledge or
prostitution of or the commission of
i n d e c e n t a ss a u l t u p o n a
pupil/student.
vii) No employee shall detain any
pupil/student for immoral purposes.
viii) No staff shall by false pretences or
false representation procure any
pupil/student to have any carnal
knowledge with him/her.
ix) An employee shall not apply or
administer to or cause to be taken by
any pupil/student any illegal drugs,
matter or thing with intent to stupefy
or overpower him/her so as to enable
the staff or any person to have carnal
knowledge with such pupil/student

x) No staff shall publicly or in secret
wilfully commit any act of indecency
towards any pupil/student.
xi) It shall be the responsibility of any
staff who directly or indirectly gets
to know of the occurrence of any of
these acts to report it to his/her
immediate superior.
xii) A staff shall intervene to stop a
pupil/student from perpetrating
sexual abuse or violence on another
pupil/student.
xiii) No staff shall directly or indirectly,
instigate, aid, or in any manner
facilitate, encourage or promote
whether by his/her acts or presence
or otherwise, any of the above
named acts.

3.11 Favouritism
No staff shall do anything that shall
suggest or create the impression that a
pupil/student is more favoured than any
other pupil/student.

3.12 Inordinate Affection
No staff shall under any circumstance
show any form of inordinate affection to
any pupil/student. Inordinate affection
implies the expression of love or likeness
with ulterior motive(s).

3.24 Drinking, Drunkenness and Smoking
i) No staff shall drink alcohol while
on duty or be found drunk during
school/office hours.
ii) Habitual drunkenness shall be
considered as bringing the Ghana
Education Service into disrepute.
iii) No staff shall smoke in the
c l a s s r o o m / o f f i c e d u r i n g
school/office hours or in a place
within school/office premises.
iv) No staff shall induce a pupil/student
by sending him/her to purchase
alcoholic beverage or cigarettes.

v) N o s t a f f s h a l l i n v o l v e
pupils/students directly or indirectly
in drinking any alcoholic beverage
and/or in smoking any kind of
cigarette.
3.25 Unauthorized Collection of Monies,
Fees or Levies
No staff shall collect unauthorized monies,
fees or levies from pupils/students without
the permission of the Director General of
the GES.

3.37 Anonymous Letters
No staff shall write or circulate
anonymous letters with malicious intent.

PART 4
4.0 PENALTIES
4.1 Classification of Penalties
i) Any breach or non-observance in any
section or part thereof of any of the
foregoing rules and regulations shall
constitute a misconduct for which the
offender shall be liable to
disciplinary action.
ii) For the purpose of this section,
misconduct is classified as either
Minor or Major.
iii) The penalty for the various
categories of misconduct shall be as
follows

4.2 Category ‘A’ Penalty for Minor
Misconduct
i) Warning or reprimand (plus
surcharge where applicable, to be
given, in writing always for record
purposes).
ii) Forfeiture of pay.
iii) Suspension with loss of pay and/or
allowances. (For a period of not
more than one month).
iv) Stoppage of increment. (This
means non-payment for a specified
period of an increment otherwise
due or one year).
v) Surcharge
vi) Termination — for persistent
misconduct.

Any of the above penalties may be
imposed on an Employee for any of the
minor misconduct, as the disciplinary
authority may consider appropriate and
desirable, in any particular case.
4.3 Category ‘B’ Penalty for Major
Misconduct
i) Deferment of increment. (This
means a postponement of the date
on which the next increment is due
with corresponding postponement
in subsequent years).
ii) Reduction in rank or of salary.
(Reduction in rank means removal
to a lower grade, with an immediate
reduction in salary. (Reduction of
salary means an adjustment of salary
to a lower point on the scale attached
to the post in question while the post
remains unaffected).

iii) Suspension. (Suspension means loss
of pay and allowances for a period
not exceeding one year as the
disciplinary authority may direct).
iv) Removal from the Ghana Education
Service. (This means termination of
appointment with full or reduced
r e tir eme n t b e n e fits a s t h e
disciplinary authority may direct).
v) Dismissal. (This means termination
of appointment with forfeiture of all
retirement benefits).
vi) Termination. (This means that the
offender may be treated as in [iv]
above).
vii) Striking off name from the Register
of Staff. (This means withdrawal of
one’s certificate of license to
teach/work with consequent
termination of appointment for
good)

Any one of the above penalties may be
imposed on an Employee; for any of the
major misconduct, the disciplinary
authority may consider appropriate and
desirable in any particular case.
4.4 MinorMisconduct
The classified minor acts or omissions
under misconduct are found in the
following sections of the Code:
Part 3
Number 3.1
i, ii
Number 3.2
i, ii, iii, iv, v
Number 3.3
i, ii, iii, iv, v
Number 3.4
i, ii, iii
Number 3.5
i, ii, iii
Number 3.6
Number 3.7
i, ii, iii, iv, v
Number 3.8a
i, ii, iii, iv, v, ix, x
Number 3.8b
i, ii, iii, iv, viii, ix, x, xi
Number 3.8c
i, xi, xiii
Number 3.9

Number 3.10
i, ii, iii
Number 3.11
Number 3.12
Number 3.13
Number 3.14
Number 3.15
i, vi, vii
Number 3.16
i, ii
Number 3.17
i, iv
Number 3.18
Number 3.19
Number 3.21
ii, iii
Number 3.22
ii, ii
Number 3.29
Number 3.30
i
Number 3.31
Number 3.33
i, iii
Number 3.38
i, ii
Number 3.39
ii, iii
Number 3.40
i, v, vi
Number 3.41
ii

4.5 Major Misconduct
The classified major acts or omissions
under misconduct are found in the
following Numbers of the Code:
Number 3.4
iv, v
Number 3.8a
vi, vii, viii
Number 3.8b
vi
Number 3.8c
ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii. viii,
ix, x, xi, xii
Number 3.15
iv, vi, vii
Number 3.17
i, iii, v
Number 3.20
Number 3.23
i, ii; iii, iv
Number 3.24
i, ii iii, iv, v
Number 3.25
Number 3.26
i, ii, iii
Number 3.27
Number 3.28
Number 3.32
i, ii, iii, iv
Number 3.33
iv

Number 3.34
ii
Number 3.35
Number 3.36
i, il iii, iv
Number 3.37
Number 3.38
Number 3.40
ii iii, iv, v, vi