Following the tragic death of seven students of Lawra Senior High School in a canoe accident on the Black Volta River, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has directed the Ghana Education Service (GES) to immediately engage school authorities to investigate the incident.
The unfortunate event occurred on the morning of Saturday, June 14, when a group of ten students from the school’s cadet corps attempted to cross the river in what has been described as an overloaded boat. The incident, which took place during a routine jogging session, claimed the lives of five female and two male students. Three others were rescued and are receiving both medical attention and psychological support.
The motive behind the students’ decision to cross the river remains unclear, especially as morning jogging is reportedly a routine activity for the cadet team and typically does not involve water crossings.
In response to the tragedy, the Minister of Education has tasked the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Professor Ernest Kofi Davis, to convene an emergency meeting with the Upper West Regional and District Directors of Education, as well as the Headmaster of Lawra SHS. The findings of the meeting are to be submitted to the minister promptly.
“As the Ministry awaits a full report from the Ghana Police Service, we wish to assure Ghanaians that we will continue to do our best to ensure the safety and security of our students,” a statement from the ministry noted.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Clement Apaak, also expressed condolences to the affected families and the broader school community. “We share in the grief of the affected families and the entire school community. Our thoughts and prayers are with them in this extremely difficult time,” he stated.
This recent incident adds to a troubling pattern of student drownings in Ghana’s inland water bodies. In 2023, eight students drowned in the Volta Lake in the Sene East District while commuting to school, prompting renewed calls for urgent safety measures for students in riverine and island communities.
Education think tank, Eduwatch Africa, has urged the Ghana Education Service to take immediate steps to prevent similar tragedies, starting with the provision of life jackets.
“In the immediate term, we urge the Ghana Education Service (GES) to facilitate the availability of life jackets to all school children and staff who sail to and from school, not only in the Sene East district, but all other ‘island and settler communities’ where children and staff commute by water transport to school,” the group stated.
They also recommended that the GES work with relevant state agencies to deliver health and safety training to students and school personnel in at-risk areas.
In response to the 2023 incident, the GES donated 100 life jackets and educational materials to the Atigagorme and Wayokope communities in the Sene East District. At the time, then Director-General of the GES, Dr. Eric Nkansah, described the donation as a temporary intervention to enhance student safety.
The Education Ministry is expected to communicate the outcome of the upcoming meeting between GES leadership and school authorities to the public once the findings are reviewed.
