Forty-seven per cent of teachers in the Sissala East District are pupil teachers with low academic qualifications. The teacher-pupil ratio in the district is also 1:80 as against the Ghana Education Service’s standard of 1:40. This development is disturbing as it is denying many brilliant children of excellent academic achievements, Madam Alijata Sulemana, District Chief Executive for Sissala East, has complained. Madam Sulemana was addressing 93 school girls attending the 2009 ActionAid Girls Camp and the Sissala East District Science, Technology and Mathematics Clinic at Tumu. She stated: “We shall labour in vain if we do not have the necessary human resource, qualified teachers, to impart knowledge, skills and attitudes to our children.” Madam Sulemana said there was no Science teacher among the 21 newly trained teachers posted to the district this year, noting that this would not promote effective teaching and learning of the subject. The girls were selected from Junior High Schools from Tumu, Wellembelle, Bujan, Nabulo and Kunchogu Circuits and would undergo a one-week training course in the learning of Science, Technology and Mathematics. Madam Sulemana said the demand for teachers in the district far exceeded the supply and that was further compounded by the refusal of some teachers to accept posting to the rural areas where their services were most needed. The DCE announced that the assembly would introduce incentive packages for teachers who accept postings to rural schools and appealed to ActionAid Ghana and other non-governmental organisations as well as public spirited individuals to support the assembly’s initiative. Mr. Francis Avousige, Sissala East District Director of Education, said Science, Technology and Mathematics education would help push Ghana’s development and growth faster. He said the goal of the education sector was to provide relevant education for all Ghanaians to enable them to acquire skills, which would make them functionally literate and productive to facilitate poverty reduction and promote wealth creation. Mr. Avousige said Ghana’s failure to recognize the importance of Science and Technology Education had adversely affected the development of a scientific culture. He, therefore, expressed the hope that Science, Technology and Mathematics education intervention strategies would be pursued to promote economic growth for the country. Source: GNA