The Minister of Education has directed the immediate suspension of the Headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School, Zakaria Abdulai, over allegations of sexual misconduct involving a female student.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Education, the directive follows an investigation by JoyNews and Manasseh Azure Awuni into the allegations against the headmaster.

The Ministry said the Minister had instructed the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to take immediate steps to suspend Mr Abdulai pending a full investigation into the matter.

The Minister has also requested the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters of the Ghana Police Service to commence investigations.

The Ministry of Education and the GES reiterated their position that alleged misconduct of this nature would not be tolerated in educational institutions across the country.

The statement, signed by the Ministry’s Press Secretary, Hashmin Mohammed, stressed that parents and guardians entrust their children to teachers, whose responsibility is to protect and safeguard them rather than abuse them.

The suspension is intended to allow investigations into the allegations to proceed.