The deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary Education, Mr Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa has admonished teachers, who engage in side businesses during school hours to desist from such practices.
He expressed worry over how
a good number of teachers in schools were engaging in the sales of rechargeable
cards, selling of pastries in schools, driving taxis among others, to the
detriment of their pupils.
A situation he likened to the
proverbial biblical case of serving two masters and cautioned that, “as Christ
told us long ago, you can’t serve two masters... You either sell credit cards
or be a teacher, you can’t do the two”.
The deputy minister, who was
commissioning an ultra-modern office complex for the Ketu North district Education
directorate at Dzodze in the Volta region on Friday, said such bad practices
coupled with other “serious management issues” were the cause of the fallen standard
of education in the region and Ghana as a whole.
According to him, findings
and analysis by the Ministry revealed that the inability of directors and
managers to supervise and carry out managerial issues has brought about such
bad practices including drunkenness and absenteeism.
He disclosed that “teacher
absenteeism in the Volta region is the highest, over 45percent as compared to
the national average of 27percent”.
He wondered why private
basic schools which are bereft of qualified and underpaid teachers are rather
doing better than public basic schools which has more qualified and better paid
teachers, adding ‘the current situation is unacceptable because the performance
of public second cycle and tertiary institutions are much better than the
private ones, hence the need for the same results at the basic level.’
Mr. Ablakwa therefore
charged education managers not to be “arm chair directors, relying on only
paper reports and hearsay accounts” but also go to the field to ensure strict
supervision and proper management of schools.
The ultra modern Ketu North District Education Office Complex |
The complex, constructed at
the cost of GH¢ 507,557.88, is part of a 19.67 million dollars education
facility from USAID in support of 150 education projects in 38 deprived
districts in the country, with Government of Ghana providing a 33 percent
“matching funds”.
He also urged chiefs and
opinion leaders to show interest in education to ensure that teachers and
managers give off their best to improve standards in their communities.
A representative from USAID
office in Accra, Ms Yvonne Oberhollenzer, said her outfit remained committed to
partnering Ghana in education to ensure that every child got the opportunity to
succeed, saying “every educated child is a golden opportunity for Ghana’s
future”.
Mr Francis Ganyaglo, Deputy
Volta Regional Minister on his part, lauded USAID for the support and hoped
that the facility would improve academic performance in the district.
He urged the stakeholders
to cultivate a maintenance culture to preserve the life span of the complex.
Ketu North District Chief
Executive, Mr Kofi Lawson, disclosed that since 2008, the district had executed
56 education projects out of 115 development projects.
He assured that the complex
would be put to good use to improve academic performance in the area.
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