Ghana halts secondary graduations over excess as Jamaica revisits school ceremony row

Ghana’s Ministry of Education has ordered an immediate stop to graduation events at senior high schools, arguing that the ceremonies have grown too flashy and wealth-focused. Ghanaian outlet CNR CitiNewsroom reported that the ministry announced the move in a news release dated June 20, 2026, after mounting public criticism of lavish send-offs at some secondary institutions.

Officials stressed that schools exist to foster learning, discipline, character, and civic responsibility. Graduations, they said, ought to honour academic success and personal development rather than serve as showcases of excess. CNR CitiNewsroom quoted the ministry as saying ceremonies “should, therefore, reflect the values of modesty, dignity, and respect associated with the educational environment”.

That Ghanaian story landed as Jamaica was already reopening a heated local argument. The Jamaica Observer’s June 27 front-page report, titled ‘Graduation apartheid’, covered unrest at Ascot Primary School in Portmore, St Catherine, after administrators divided this year’s leavers according to Primary Exit Profile (PEP) results.

According to that coverage, some Grade Six pupils were denied caps and gowns because their PEP scores fell short of a school-set threshold. Those children were told to appear in regular uniform, while classmates with stronger PEP marks proceeded in full academic dress. Parents further claimed the uniformed group was made to process behind the gowned cohort and sit at the rear of the graduating class.

The following day, Jamaica’s education ministry publicly rejected what it called the school’s “inappropriate approach” and restated its support for “positive discipline”. The same release carried an apology from Ascot Principal Mark Jackson: “Where any of my students have been wounded or scarred, I am woefully sorry and wholeheartedly apologise for this unintended outcome.”

The ministry said Jackson insisted that keeping lower-performing pupils out of gowns was never meant to shame them in public. He added that the arrangement followed “an agreed position following a meeting with the parents, especially for those who did not meet the criteria to participate in the graduation exercise”.

The episode has again fuelled debate over whether primary-level graduations should continue at all. Critics call them premature, a distraction from deeper problems facing children, and a heavy cost for families. Defenders counter that the events give pupils a deserved sense of achievement as they move on to secondary school.

Back in Ghana, CNR CitiNewsroom said the ministry also denounced behaviour by students, parents, guardians, or other parties that encourages extravagance and pulls focus from what graduation is meant to mark. Officials framed the policy review as one that “is intended to ensure that graduation ceremonies align with the core values of Ghana’s education system and uphold standards of discipline and responsibility”.