Safeguarding international schools in Ghana: country guide

The National Schools Inspectorate Authority (NaSIA) regulates public and private pre-tertiary schools, which means schools below tertiary level. Its About page says the Education Act, 2008 (Act 778), as amended by the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023), established it.

NaSIA says every such school that wants to operate in Ghana must apply to it for authorisation, and gets a provisional licence valid for one year. The NaSIA pages reviewed for this guide do not mention international schools, so ask NaSIA or your lawyer how your school is treated.

Many international schools add a voluntary accreditation. Ghana International School says on its website that the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) both accredit it.

Yes. Section 17 of the Children's Act, 1998 (Act 560) says any person with information on child abuse must report it to the Department. Read plainly, "any person" covers teachers and other school staff.

The Act defines the Department as the Social Welfare and Community Development Department of a District Assembly. Ask your lawyer which office covers your school, and write its name and number into your procedure.

After a report, the Department can direct a probation or social welfare officer, with the police, to investigate (section 19). If a child needs immediate care and protection, the officers can take the child to a place of safety for up to seven days. The child must then go before a Family Tribunal.

The school removes no one. Section 17 names no penalty in its own text, so ask counsel how the duty is enforced.

The Act does not mention a designated safeguarding lead (DSL). That role comes from accreditation standards, such as those on the CIS child protection page, and from good practice. Write a route that meets both and ask local counsel to confirm it.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 112 first. Then follow your school's child protection procedure and tell your DSL the same day.

These numbers come from a government page, a regulator page and a news report of a ministry statement, all read on 19 October 2026. The Helpline of Hope launch page dates from 2017, so call that line yourself before you print it.

Child Helpline International lists no national child helpline for Ghana. Its Ghana page names one group, the Ghana Internet Safety Foundation, as working towards one.

• Immediate danger: call 112, the national emergency number. The Communications Authority says calls are free, even with no airtime.
• 0800 800 800 or 0800 900 900: the Helpline of Hope, which takes complaints that include child abuse. A ministry statement of October 2026 lists the same two numbers.
• Your nearest police station or Social Welfare office, which that ministry statement tells anyone with information about a person at risk to contact.
• Your DSL: tell them the same day, every time.

Ghanaian law and international standards share one aim and differ on the route. The Children's Act puts the duty on any person, who reports to the Department. Standards such as Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE), the English guidance many schools copy, send staff to the DSL first.

Write one rule that meets both. Staff tell the DSL the same day, and the policy says that telling the DSL does not end a person's own duty to report. Ask counsel whether a report made by the DSL meets everyone's duty.

KCSIE has no legal force in Ghana. See which parts travel abroad and how to map a local reporting duty. The International Task Force on Child Protection also publishes standards for international schools.

Online harm is the second place to check. Under the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038), it is an offence to take, publish or possess an indecent image of a child (section 62). Grooming a child online is also an offence (section 63).

So tell staff never to copy, forward or keep a student's nude image, and to pass the device to the DSL at once. Ask counsel how the DSL may hold it safely.

The Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) is the main law, and the Data Protection Commission enforces it. A school that holds personal data is a data controller. Controllers must register with the Commission (section 46).

Section 37 treats data on a child under parental control as special personal data. Processing is allowed where it is necessary or the data subject consents.

Keep records no longer than their purpose needs, unless the law, a contract or consent allows it (section 24). Tell the Commission and the person affected when someone gains unauthorised access to their data (section 31).

The Act text reviewed has no rule that data must stay in Ghana. It applies to data that comes partly or wholly from Ghana (section 45).

The Commission also lists a 2025 draft Data Protection Bill on its documents page. The draft names children's data in its section on transfers abroad (section 96). It is a draft and may change, so ask counsel about cloud storage outside Ghana before you sign.

The End Corporal Punishment country report for Ghana, updated in June 2024, says the school ban is policy that law has not confirmed. A Ghana Education Service (GES) letter of January 2019 said all corporal punishment was banned in public and private schools in 2017.

The same report says the Children's Act and the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 still allow "justifiable" correction, meaning correction that is reasonable. Section 13 of the Children's Act bars cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, and section 15 makes a breach an offence.

The report also cites a 2017/18 national survey. It found 94% of children aged 1 to 14 had faced violent discipline at home.

So your code of conduct should say that no adult uses physical punishment, whatever the law allows at home. Explain why to new staff and to parents. A child's report of being hit follows the same route as any other concern.

Ghana has many languages, such as Twi, Ga and Ewe. Staff in security, transport, catering and cleaning may find a local language easier than English.

Give them the reporting route in a language they use at home, checked by a bilingual reader. Read more on translation and localisation of safeguarding training.

For safer recruitment, candidates can apply for a police clearance certificate through the Ghana Police Service. The UK government's guide to overseas checks says it needs fingerprints and goes only to the applicant. Its Ghana entry dates from 2016, so confirm the current steps with the police.

A certificate shows convictions only. Add references, a gap check and interview questions, as in safer recruitment for international schools.

Work through this list in your first month. None of it needs a consultant.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current law with local counsel and the relevant authority. If a child is in immediate danger, call 112.

• Ask local counsel to confirm section 17 in writing, and date the answer.
• Save the numbers for your district social welfare office and nearest police station.
• Call the Helpline of Hope yourself and confirm your district office number, then post only numbers that answer. Do not test-dial 112.
• Check your NaSIA licence and your accreditor's child protection expectations.
• Write one reporting route. Staff tell you the same day, and you decide who reports to which authority.
• Ban corporal punishment in your code of conduct and train staff on why.
• Register with the Data Protection Commission and check where records are stored.