The Ministry of Education has defended its decision to suspend activities associated with extravagant celebrations at Senior High School (SHS) graduation ceremonies, arguing that such displays risk creating a “class society” within schools.
Speaking on the Channel One Newsroom, the Press Secretary to the Minister, Hashmin Mohammed, said school campuses are intended to nurture character and promote inclusivity rather than serve as platforms for flaunting wealth.
“School campuses are citadels for moulding characters beyond learning numeracy and then literacy,” he said.
According to him, the Minister for Education directed the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service to halt activities linked to ostentatious graduation celebrations after concerns emerged over increasing displays of affluence at some schools.
“We don’t want to create a situation where we create a class society in our various senior high schools,” Mohammed stated.
Responding to concerns that parents should be free to celebrate their children as they deem fit, he argued that individual choices should not undermine the broader values underpinning the country’s educational system.
“A personal choice of any parent or any student or guardian shouldn’t affect the collective interest or the collective moral value of our education system. We cannot allow few individuals to distort the moral value or the moral society of our education system,” he stressed.
Mohammed explained that lavish gifts and displays during graduation ceremonies could place undue pressure on students from less privileged backgrounds.
“It corrupts it in a sense that it will put pressure on other students whose parents or guardians wouldn’t be able to afford that.
“Once we allow the trend to grow, it becomes something that is a norm that every parent or every student will be demanding from their parents. And in doing that, we’ll be creating a class society and we don’t want that kind of class society.”
He stressed that graduation ceremonies are intended to mark the completion of an academic journey and should not become occasions for showcasing wealth.
The Ministry of Education has directed the suspension of SHS graduation ceremonies amid growing public concerns over excessive displays of wealth and flamboyance during such events.
