The Latecomer and the Senior Teacher's Advice
Adjei has just finished national service and been posted to a JHS in a peri-urban community, where he teaches General Science to JHS 2. His class has 52 learners in a room built for 35, with 30 desks and one working socket. For three weeks, Kwabena (15) has arrived between 25 and 40 minutes late every morning. Kwabena explains that he helps his mother sell kenkey at the lorry station from 5:30 a.m. and then walks 40 minutes to school; he is the eldest of four children. Six other learners are occasionally late for similar reasons. Adjei's lessons begin with a 10-minute starter that Kwabena always misses, and Kwabena has begun refusing to copy notes, saying 'I'm already lost anyway.' At break a senior colleague advises: 'Two strokes and he will change.' The headteacher tells Adjei that JHS 2 is now the noisiest class in the school and wants a written plan by Friday. Kwabena's mother has told the class teacher that she cannot manage the market without him.
1. Should Adjei cane Kwabena? Advise him, giving your reasoning and explaining what the behaviour is actually telling him.
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Decision: no. Adjei must not cane Kwabena - and the reason is diagnostic, not sentimental.
Legal and policy position. Ghana's Children's Act, 1998 (Act 560) protects every child from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and GES policy on safe and protective schools rules out corporal punishment. A teacher who canes is personally exposed, and so is the school. The National Teachers' Standards require the teacher to treat learners with dignity and to build a safe, supportive environment. So the real choice is not 'cane or chaos'; it is 'what does this behaviour need?'
Reading the behaviour. Kwabena's lateness has a clear antecedent (market work from 5:30 a.m., a 40-minute walk) and a clear consequence (he misses the starter, cannot follow, and opts out of note-taking). That is not defiance; it is a 15-year-old carrying an adult economic role without adult support. Caning would punish his mother's poverty, damage the relationship he needs in order to ask for help, and teach nothing about the skill actually missing - catching up on the first ten minutes of a lesson. It would also model that problems are settled by hitting.
The fairness point Adjei should notice. Six other learners are late for the same structural reasons. Caning one boy for a pattern shared by seven is arbitrary, and the class will read it as unfair - which worsens the noise problem the headteacher is complaining about.
What to do instead, now. (a) A private, problem-solving conversation framed as 'let us find a way', not a warning. (b) Restructure the first ten minutes so they recap yesterday's work rather than introduce new content - this protects every latecomer. (c) A named catch-up route: a notebook buddy, a summary slip, five minutes at break. (d) Start a simple lateness log so Adjei argues from data, not irritation.
2. Design a four-week response covering Kwabena and the six other latecomers, with indicators Adjei can actually measure.
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Week 1 - gather evidence and change one thing.
- Log arrival times daily (name, time, reason given). Two weeks of data is enough to show whether lateness is market-driven, seasonal or drifting.
- Hold short individual conversations with all seven, not the whole class, and ask each what would make 7:30 achievable.
- Move the starter to a review-and-recall activity; introduce a 'first five minutes' sheet that is collected so latecomers have a visible route back in.
- Pair Kwabena with a reliable notebook buddy and agree how the buddy hands over notes.
Week 2 - bring the family in without shaming them.
- Adjei (or the class teacher) meets Kwabena's mother at a time she chooses, ideally at the market, and opens with what Kwabena is good at. The aim is a negotiated arrangement, not an apology.
- Explore options: Kwabena leaves the market at a fixed time on market days; an older sibling covers two mornings; Kwabena arrives at 7:40 and the school accepts a 10-minute margin on those mornings with a documented catch-up plan.
- Say clearly that the boy is not in trouble, and that caning will not be used.
Week 3 - recognition and peer support.
- Publicly recognise improvement in the number of on-time arrivals, not in 'attitude'.
- Give Kwabena a small classroom responsibility that requires early arrival (setting up apparatus) - a reason to be there, not a threat.
Week 4 - review and escalate if needed.
- Compare the lateness log with week 1. If there is no change despite family agreement, refer to the school's guidance and counselling coordinator and follow the school's attendance procedure.
Indicators: mean minutes late per week; number of mornings on time out of five; number of lessons in which the starter task is completed; number of note-copying refusals; Kwabena's score on the next class test; and the number of discipline referrals (which should fall to near zero).
3. The headteacher wants a 'quieter' class and the senior colleague wants punishment. How should Adjei handle the two adults?
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Open with data, not with a defence. Adjei should take the Friday plan in one page: the lateness log, a short statement of what he has changed in the lesson structure, what he expects to improve, and how he will report back in three weeks. Heads respond to a plan with numbers; they push back on a teacher who appears to be explaining away a problem.
Separate the two complaints. 'Noise' and 'lateness' are different problems with different remedies. Adjei should ask the headteacher precisely when the noise occurs and what it sounds like - if it is during group work, it may be productive talk with poor routines; if it is at transitions, the fix is a predictable signal, a seating plan and a five-second countdown. He should not solve the noise complaint by tightening discipline on Kwabena, which would misdiagnose both.
Handle the senior colleague without a public clash. Adjei can say: 'I've started with a log and a family meeting; if there's no change in three weeks I'll come back to you for advice.' That respects the colleague's experience, keeps the door open, and does not commit him to caning. He must not, however, promise to use corporal punishment to keep the peace - that would be a breach of the child protection rules whatever the colleague thinks.
Widen the issue. Adjei should raise at the next staff meeting whether the school has a lateness policy at all, because seven learners from the same catchment are late and one teacher cannot fix a transport-and-market problem. Suggesting a whole-school attendance procedure positions him as a contributor rather than a teacher defending himself.
Professional relationships matter here. The National Teachers' Standards expect teachers to cooperate with colleagues and with school leadership, but cooperation does not extend to doing something harmful. Agreeing on the goal (a calm, learning class) while disagreeing on the method (punishment) is the professional line to hold.