The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition has asked the Ghana Education Service to sanction teachers who are constantly missing from the classroom if it is to reverse the worrying trend of poor performance amongst students.
The coalition was reacting to a World Bank study which indicts Ghanaian teachers as being notorious for absenteeism and inadequate instructional hours.
The report reveals that unlike Tunisia, Brazil and Morocco, Ghanaian teachers use their teaching time to chase their salaries, attend funerals and other social events as well as engage in other economic activities.
The Coordinator of the Education Coalition, Leslie Tetteh said there were weak supervisory and monitoring mechanisms of teacher performance and attendance at the district and school level and that must change.
Admitting that Circuit Supervisors were not adequately resourced to carry out the task, Mr Tetteh said members of the community must play the role of supervisors.
Director of Planning at the Education Ministry, Ernest Otoo, however, assured that the situation will improve with the decentralisation of the management of schools.
Under the decentralisation system, District Directors of Education, he said, will be given the power to manage the school and because they will be held accountable for any lapses, it is believed that they will put in their best to change the situation.
Source: Joy News/Ghana