DAILY GRAPHIC, Tuesday, June 19, 2012, Pg. 48.Teacher absenteeism in Ga-South high

Story: Mary Ankrah

A STUDY conducted on the behaviour and performances of teachers in 11 primary schools in the Ga-South Municipality of the Greater-Accra Region, has revealed a high rate of teacher absenteeism.
The study, which was coducted  by Advocacy Network for Education (ANE) in collaboration with ActionAid Ghana (AAG), said most of the teachers attend school about three times a week.

The two bodies called on the Ga South Education Oversight Committee (GSEOC) and other relevant education agencies and stakeholders to take the necessary steps immediately, to address the issues and related challenges facing basic education in the affected communities.

The 11 schools are Akweiman Basic School, Nsuobri Methodist Primary and M/A Junior High School, Mmampehia M/A Basic School, Honise M/A Basic School and Aboasa M/A Basic School.

The rest are Konkon M/A Basic School, Kofi Donkor M/A School, Hobor M/A Primary School, Amuman M/A Primary School, Kyekyewere M/A primary School and Bebianeha Methodist Primary School.

The ANE and AAG disclosed this at a meeting with the GSEOC in Accra recently.

The meeting sought to identify problems facing the schools, with a view to finding ways of solving them.
The study noted that some of the teachers commuted to the schools from  Madina, Ashongman, Amasaman, Adeiso, Bawjiase and Kasoa  to Weija and its surrounding villages to teach.

It also observed that basic education was facing serious challenges including staff competency, accommodation and the use of contact hours on extra-curricular activities in the schools.

On staff competency, the study observed that there were many untrained teachers in the schools.

The study said most of the teachers were employees of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) and the posting did not consider the subject areas of the teachers, making it difficult for them to handle some of the topics and subjects.

For this reason, they said most of the teachers skipped those subjects to the detriment of the students.
The study also revealed that most of the teachers did not have decent accommodation in the communities they taught, adding, where there were teachers’ accommodation, it was not adequate, compelling the teachers  to pair in rooms.

Out of the 11 schools which the study covered, only three of them, Bebianeha, Kyekyewere and Amuman had accommodation for the teachers.

The study also noted that the teachers spent a greater part of their teaching period on extra-curricular activities.

In order to improve quality education in the municipality, the study recommended that the municipal assembly, should, as a matter of priority, make teachers’ accommodation part of the schools’ infrastructure.

The study urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) to frequently organise in-service training programmes for teachers to address the weaknesses that some of them faced in some subject areas, while teachers regulated extra-activities to put a stop to the practice where they took so much time of instructional hours.

With regard to the teachers’ accommodation problem, the Municipal Chief Executive of the Ga South Municipal Assembly, Mr Jerry Acquaye Thompson, in a speech read on his behalf , assured the assembly would endeavour to complete all abandoned and on-going school infrastructural projects in the municipalities to ensure that funds were put to good use.

He disclosed that three teachers’ quarters would soon be constructed at Bisease, Paanor and Obokwashie on communal basis to address some of the teachers’ accommodation issues in the municipality.