A Deputy Minister of Education, Hon Alex Kyeremeh, has reinforced government’s determination to reduce teacher absenteeism from its current 9% to zero next academic year.
According to him, government had put in place the necessary mechanism to monitor the attendance of teachers in public schools to ensure the issue of absenteeism is a thing of the past.
Hon Kyeremeh, the incumbent Member of Parliament for Techiman- North in the Brong-Ahafo Region wondered why teachers would in the first place deliberately absent themselves knowing very well that without them children would not get the needed education.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Observer Newspaper during a recent tour of some examination centers where final year Junior High School candidates were sitting for the Basic Education Certificate Examination, (BECE) in the Ashanti Region, the Deputy Minister noted, ‘there was no justification for teachers to absent themselves from school repeatedly’.
The Minister, who was livid that some Two (2) pupil teachers at the Kokoabooho primary school in the Afigya Kwabre District had been absent from school during his surprise visit, stressed the need for school heads to crack the whip on staff who continually did so.
STRATEGY:
Hon Kyeremeh mentioned government had instructed Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, (MMDCE’s) to conduct unannounced visits to the respective schools in their jurisdictions so as to ensure teachers were in school always.
He also disclosed Metro, Municipal and District Education heads as well as circuit supervisors had been charged to do same periodic monitoring in schools that are under their supervision.
”As a government, the Mahama administration is determined to ensure there is sanity in the way teaching is conducted in the public schools”, Mr Kyeremeh reinforced.
According to him, ‘it was unacceptable for school children to be present in school while their teachers keep absenting themselves’.
He furthermore stressed, ‘government would not countenance any bad attitude from teachers and would speedily apply the needed sanctions if a particular teacher or group of teachers were repeatedly absent in school’.
GENEROUS ACT:
However, the Deputy Minister touched by the plea by the Headmistress of Kokoabooho Primary for additional furniture for some kids at the school has asked for the provision of 100 dual desks for the school.
Accompanied by the Regional Director of Education, Hon Kyeremeh charged Mrs Mary Owusu Achiaw to provide the school with the additional furniture.
Furthermore, the Deputy Minister asked the Regional Education Directorate to ensure the regular provision of chalk and other teaching aids to government assisted schools to ensure smooth teaching and learning in schools.
TOUR:
Earlier on, the Deputy Minister visited the Ahmaddiya and Dwamena Akenten Senior High Schools in Kumasi and Offinso South respectively to observe the ongoing BECE exams as the two schools were being used as exams centers by the West African Exams Council (WAEC).
At the Dwamena Akenten Senior High School at Offinso-South, the deputy minister witnessed a demonstration by the Exams supervisor on how the papers of the exams were released after it had been brought into the school by officials of the Bureau of National Investigations, (BNI) and a WAEC official.
With a scrutiny of the seals on the papers, the supervisor cut the seal on the paper-bag in the open as security officials and other officials from WAEC also looked on to observe.
