The Ghana Psychological Association (GPA) has urged professionals across the country to be guided by the code of conduct governing their various fields of professions.

This follows a boat disaster in the Saboba District, which left nine junior high school (JHS) pupils drowned in River Oti.

The headteacher of the school, Mr Jashain Emmanuel, is alleged to have sent some 31 pupils of the school to harvest rice on his farm when the incident occurred.

In a statement issued by the GPA on Wednesday, 17 November 2021, signed by its National Public Relations Officer, Joy Anima Debrah, the GPA expressed its condolences to the parents and families of the deceased pupils.

According to the association, “in Ghana, the official response to disaster, mostly falls short of the psychological component”.

“This situation has been mitigated in recent times by the Ghana Psychological Association (GPA) through the provision of psychosocial interventions and emergency response to disasters in collaboration with other stakeholders, especially where there is loss of life. The most recent one has been the one-week Crisis Intervention/Trauma Therapy at APAM, offered to the survivors, families of the victims, the Security and National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) officials.”

It continued that it has, therefore, “deployed some members to provide crisis counselling and trauma therapy to the survivors as well as all who have been impacted psychologically by the sad event.”

It also encouraged all persons involved in the boat disaster “to remain calm, positive, co-operative and allow the law to take its course.”

Meanwhile, the Ghana Education Service (GES) has interdicted the headteacher of the St Charles Lwanga R/C JHS.

The headteacher, who is currently on remand over the drowning of the nine pupils, was interdicted on Tuesday, 16 November 2021.