The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), a civil society organization, has asked Government to take over the management of the Great Lamptey Mills Institute in the short term and have the proprietor removed from management. It believes that such a measure will create the right environment and secure the best interests of the children under the current circumstances.

GNECC?s recommendation is at variance with that of the Attorney General's Department reported advice which, according to Mr. Bright Appiah, the Coalition Chairman, says that Government should close down the school and have its operational license withdrawn.

Addressing a news conference last Monday, Mr. Appiah, submitted that Mr Enoch Nii Lamptey -Mills, the man in the eye of the storm, "should be removed from the management of the school and the Government should take over the school in the short term." Mr. Lamptey- Mills is the Proprietor of Great Lamptey-Mills Institute.

It also wants the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) to work towards providing private schools with a professional code of conduct similar to what pertains in the public sector since the private schools account for over 20 percent of total school enrolment at the basic education level in the country.

The Coalition said while it has not ceased from condemning the unprofessional conduct of Mr. Lamptey- Mills just like others, it at the same time insists that duty bearers in the education sector must take the appropriate action.

The coalition believes that even though the Education Act, 2008(Act 778) mandates the Minister of Education, upon the advice of a district assembly to withdraw the license of a private school, if the operations of the school is detrimental to the moral welfare of the pupils. "The implications of such lines of the action would be enormous if caution is not heeded."

The Coalition gave reasons why it finds the closure option misplaced: It says under such circumstances Government would have to facilitate the relocation of all pupils in the school to other schools, to ensure the best interests of the children are upheld. It asked, "How feasible is this?" It further noted that the problem of choice of schools and availability of vacancies may result in inconveniences to both parents and pupils.

In addition to the recommended removal of the Head of the School, the Coalition also wants the Ministry of Education (MoE) and with the advice of the National Accreditation Board (NAB) or the District assembly to design mechanisms and measures for sanctioning private institutions taking into consideration the interest of the children.

It also proposed that the Ministry of Education must ensure that administrators and teachers of both private and public schools maintain high moral standards by coming out with clear guidelines to regulate the operations of private institutions.

The Coalition believes that the implementation of such actions will go a long way to help streamline legal and policy provisions in the education sector and also ensure that unprofessional behavior is weeded out from educational institutions.

It finally asked the Ghana Education Service (GES) to make public the outcome of its investigations on the matter and without further delay.