The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) on Friday appealed to the government to institute measures to stop the activities of drug peddlers who operate from schools, thereby exposing teachers and pupils to danger.
"It has been a grave concern to us, the harassment teachers and pupils encounter in their classrooms by drug peddlers and drug addicts," it said.
A statement signed by Mrs Irene Duncan-Adanusa, General Secretary, GNAT, indicated that reports in newspapers lately spoke of people turning school compounds into football fields and playing the game while schools were in session, and also drug addicts smoking Indian hemp openly on school compounds.
The statement said these people peddled drugs on the school compounds and issued threats to teachers for one reason or another.
It said as a teachers' association that stood for, among other objectives, promoting quality education for all, GNAT could not be unconcerned and remain silent when the activities of some people in our communities kicked directly against the achievement of such a noble objective.
The statement therefore called on all stakeholders in the education enterprise, to put their hands on deck to nip this practice in the bud.
It urged the Ministries of the Interior and Education, District, Municipal and Metropolitan assemblies, parents and the communities where schools are located, to play their respective roles to ensure that teaching and learning are not impeded in any way.