The National Peace Council (NPC) has educated students of O’Reilly Senior High School (SHS) on the importance of promoting peace, tolerance, and a harmonious community. The engagement formed part of NPC’s 2025 capacity development and advocacy initiative in second-cycle schools, aimed at teaching students nonviolent approaches to handling grievances and fostering peaceful coexistence.
Mrs Janet Sarnay-Kuma, Director of Capacity Development and Outreach at NPC, noted that recent incidents of student fights, stabbings, and confrontations with teachers made it crucial for the council to intensify its outreach. She stressed that violence, in any form, threatens school safety and community harmony and that students must understand conflict dynamics to resolve issues constructively.
“We are helping them realise that violence is not the way to resolve problems and to know the threats of violence in all forms because when they fight for a short or long period, they still need to sit around the table to resolve the issues,” Mrs Sarnay-Kuma said. She guided students through discussions on physical, sexual, and emotional violence, highlighting prevention strategies and proper ways to address conflicts in school and society.
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The Director encouraged students to uphold peaceful co-existence, respect diversity, promote integrity, teamwork, loyalty, and dedication to both school and community development. NPC plans to establish peace clubs at O’Reilly SHS and train students as peace ambassadors capable of resolving disputes.
Madam Joyce Danso, Assistant Headmistress for Administration at O’Reilly SHS, praised NPC’s intervention, noting that it complemented the school’s conflict resolution efforts. She added that the sensitisation provided insights not only into conflicts among students but also into managing disturbances caused by intruders on school premises.
Boys’ Prefect Gideon Eric Ayiku said, “This is a good exercise because inasmuch as we try to promote peace, some students still cause problems, and so this has come to deepen our resolve to live harmoniously.”
The initiative is expected to strengthen peace culture among students, equipping them with skills to prevent and manage conflicts constructively within and beyond the school environment.
