‘Voodoo’ student: Dr. Apaak appeals for parental discipline on children 

Deputy Minister for Education, Dr. Clement Abas Apaak has appealed to parents to take greater responsibility for their children’s conduct following public outrage over a viral video involving a senior high school student.

Dr. Apaak said he had forwarded both the video and the accompanying story to the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service for immediate action, stressing that violence and misconduct had no place in schools.

“We cannot accept violence in our schools and between students from different schools. We are determined to restore discipline in our educational system,” he stated in a Facebook post on Thursday.

The video, which circulated widely on social media on January 15, 2026, allegedly shows a male student of Sakafia Islamic Senior High School adorned with charms, some worn under his attire and others visibly displayed on his body. Social media users claimed the student was spiritually fortifying himself ahead of an inter-school competition.

The footage sparked intense debate online, with many commenters calling for disciplinary action against the student and raising concerns about safety, superstition, and discipline within second-cycle institutions.

Dr. Apaak said the incident underscored the need for stronger collaboration between schools and families in shaping student behaviour.

“Parents must take an interest in the behaviour of their wards in school,” he wrote. “Parents ought to regularly caution their wards against misconduct and acts of indiscipline.”

The Deputy Minister linked the issue to the government’s decision to restore Parent-Teacher Associations, describing PTAs as a critical platform for shared responsibility in education.

“We restored PTAs because we believe parents have a crucial and collaborative role to play in the education of their wards, especially, at the pre-tertiary level,” Dr. Apaak noted.

He explained that discipline could not be enforced by school authorities alone and warned that neglect at home often manifests as misconduct in schools.

Education analysts say the viral incident reflects broader tensions around student discipline, belief systems, and peer competition, particularly during inter-school events that heighten rivalry.

While the Ghana Education Service has yet to issue an official statement on the specific case, disciplinary procedures exist to deal with conduct that breaches school regulations and threatens student safety.

The Sakafia Islamic Senior High School has also not publicly commented on the matter, but sources within the education sector say investigations are expected once the GES reviews the video and related reports.

Dr. Apaak urged the public to allow due process to take its course while parents, teachers, and school administrators work together to prevent similar incidents, insisting that restoring discipline remains a central priority of education reforms.