JoyNews Research has examined 44 reported cases of teachers and school heads accused of sexually abusing students since 2015, finding that 18 of those incidents occurred in senior high schools (SHSs) and that 19 distinct SHSs appear in the Ministry of Education’s 2026 Second Cycle Public Schools Register. Of those 19 schools, only one is Category A, seven are Category B and eleven are Category C, meaning 94.7% of the schools named in abuse reports fall into the lower two categories.
While Category A schools comprise just 8.2% of all senior high schools in the register, the actual count of Category A schools involved in abuse cases is one, a figure that does not suggest a meaningful safety advantage. The sole Category A school, St Louis SHS in Kumasi, had a rape‑related interdiction recorded in 2018.
In the six SHS cases reported since January 2025, three involved Category B schools and three involved Category C schools; none involved a Category A institution. The small sample size limits any inference about differential risk.
Placement data for the 2026 intake shows a stark mismatch between demand and supply. Of the 613,474 first‑choice candidates for categories A, B and C, 51.1% selected Category A schools, yet Category A holds only 9.6% of the 795,435 declared vacancies in those categories. Category A’s share of first‑choice candidates is therefore 5.3% higher than its proportion of schools (8.2%).
Deputy Education Minister Dr Clement Apaak explained on 8 September 2026 that the remaining 76,635 candidates were not automatically placed mainly because of the high demand for Category A schools. He described the issue as a mismatch between where vacancies exist and where candidates want to go, not a shortage of places. Vacancies are not interchangeable, as they depend on programme, boarding or day status, gender and location.
The Ministry’s data do not support the assumption that Category A schools are inherently safer. Reported cases appear in all three categories, and Category A’s share of them (5.3%) aligns with its small share of schools. The evidence also does not explain why parents favour Category A schools; factors such as academic performance, reputation, facilities, boarding options and perceptions of safety may all play a role.
Parents currently lack reliable, comparable information on safeguarding in individual schools. A school’s category label alone does not provide that assurance. The concentration of reported sexual abuse cases in particular school categories could influence parental preferences and, potentially, demand for those schools, but further evidence is needed to confirm any causal link.
Ghana Education Service (GES) has not published recent names of dismissed teachers. On 15 October 2026, Deputy Director‑General Dr Issahaque Munawaru said the GES Council had approved about 15 dismissals this month in sexual harassment cases dating back to 2021. On 20 October, GES announced that 10 teachers had been dismissed and one appointment terminated for sexual misconduct, but no names or schools were disclosed. In the cases JoyNews Research reviewed, recent SHS cases show interdictions with no public final outcome, and no SHS head has been convicted.
Without names or school details, parents cannot link outcomes to the allegations they have heard about or judge how consistently cases are handled. In a highly competitive placement system, transparent safeguarding records would give families more reliable information than a generic category label.
