Former Chairperson of the Parents Association in the Upper East Region John Akaribo is calling for the abolition of ‘ninos’ night’ in Senior High Schools.
John Akaribo’s call comes on the heels of a video in which senior students of the Zuaruangu Senior High School are seen subjecting their junior colleagues to bullying and forcing them to simulate sexual intercourse with one another in preparation for the school’s ‘ninos’ night’.
‘Ninos’ night’, a conventional social reception, is usually held by senior students with support from school authorities to welcome freshers into the school community in SHSs in Ghana.
Marked with each fresher comically adorned in a set of clothes that do not match and have their faces painted or powdered, the ‘ninos’ night’ orients the newcomers into the extracurricular life of the school. It also serves as a platform to unearth talents as the freshers are often engaged in various entertainment activities.
But the videos of students subjecting newcomers to bullying and forcing them to simulate sexual intercourse with one another have raised concerns with John Akaribo campaigning for its abolition.
Speaking in an interview on Breakfast News on Dreamz FM, John Akaribo said the ceremony no longer serves its purpose and should be scrapped.
“If there’s a program or a policy introduced by the schools just to make them have that entertainment and they are abusing it, why do we continue it?” he questioned.
“It has lost its value. They do these things under the supervision of the teachers. But if teachers have lost interest in those things and then it’s not part of their things, it has nothing to do with the students’ educational system in the school. We should better abolish it to avoid anything”.
