Ghana’s Minister of Education, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, announced earlier this month the start of a renewed effort to enforce the Ghana Education Service (GES) sanctions. GES will be expected to exact stricter sanctions on teachers who openly disregard their code of conduct in an effort to raise teacher accountability and the quality of education.
The World Bank issued a report revealing high rates of teacher absenteeism in Ghana; teachers in Ghana miss approximately 43 days in a school year which hinders the growth of the education sector. In the past, GES lacked the resources and supervision to enforce the adherence of the sanctions.
According to the GES code, teachers will be considered to have vacated their post and will be fired if they are absent for ten continuous days or more. The code also states that teachers are not allowed to leave the country without permission from the Director-General of the GES. The code requires teachers to acquire the permission of the head of the institution before leaving the school while the school day is in session; and, teachers who leave their schools for elsewhere must inform their institution’s authority of their whereabouts in case they must be recalled for an emergency. Other sanctions include “warnings, reprimands, queries, forfeiture of pay for the number of days absent, stoppage of increments, suspension with loss of pay and allowance, disciplinary transfer and termination of appointment, where necessary.”
“The country will not reap the benefits of investments made in the educational sector if efforts are not made to curb the rampant absenteeism of teachers in the various part of the country,” the Minister said. Opoku-Agyemang means business; she has made unannounced visits to schools and districts bearing the gravity of the teacher absenteeism in each of her visits. Additionally, she has been drawing public attention to this challenge by having the Director-General of the GES and her team report on all of their visits. GES will augment supervision in schools and ensure that effective measures are enacted against offenders of the code of conduct.
The ministry remains committed to supporting the GES. They hope that the GES and the code of conduct will continue to guide the teachers in a way that enhances the quality of education as well as school management.
Creative Commons Love: World Bank Photo Collection on Flickr.com
Written by Melody Chiang