A report by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has accused non-teaching staff of Ghana Education Service (GES) of misappropriation, mismanagement, embezzlement and blatant disregard for financial, procurement and internal audit. Madam Naana Biney, Deputy Director of GES, who announced this on Tuesday said some non-teaching staff were also blamed for absenteeism, irregular attendance and "taking French leave" while others were cited for contemptuous attitude towards management of education in the districts, adding: "others have lost their ethics and moral values". She was speaking at the Mpohor Wassa East District Best Teacher/Worker Awards for the 2007/2008 academic year at Daboase. Thirty-two teachers and four non-teaching staff were presented with awards. Miss Gifty Nelson Mensah, former pupil of Subri Industrial Plantation Limited (SIPL) Junior High School (JHS) was adjudged the best Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidate for 2007 followed by Master Benjamin Arthur Aidoo, also a former pupil of the school. It was under the theme "The New Educational Reforms: Investing in Child Education, The Teacher Factor". Madam Biney noted that the reasons for such antipathy were yet to be established but the offenders were dragging the name of GES and the teaching profession in the mud and such acts would no longer be countenanced. She said Regional and District Directors of Education had therefore, been empowered to deal drastically with non-teaching staff who infringed on GES rules and regulations with impunity. Madam Biney advised teachers and non-teaching staff to adhere to the code of conduct of the service or would be sanctioned. Mrs Rebecca Efiba Dadzie, Western Regional Director of Education, in an address read for her, urged the award winners to let their attitude and commitment to work reflect on their achievements and served as role models of the GES. She advised teachers to be mindful of their public image because it was unacceptable for teachers to abuse the trust reposed in them and take advantage of innocent lives entrusted in their care. Mrs Dadzie said some teachers had taken to excessive drinking of alcohol, habitual latecomers and frequently absent themselves from work and these attitudes negatively impacted on the image of teachers. She urged stakeholders in education to accept the huge responsibility placed on teachers and be prepared to offer the needed support to enable them perform better. Mrs Gifty Asiedu-Okantah, Mpohor Wassa East District Director of Education, said a major constraint facing the education sector in the district was lack of trained teachers to man especially the kindergartens. She said kindergartens were an integral part of the basic education system under the new education reform therefore, kindergartens should be handled by trained, certified and experienced teachers. Mrs Asiedu-Okantah said most untrained teachers were performing better especially those who took advantage of the Untrained Teachers Diploma in Basic Education Programme to upgrade their qualification but the performance of the rest had left much to be desired. Miss Matilda Quarmson of Daboase District Assembly Primary School was adjudged the best Primary School teacher for 2007 and Mr Daniel Mensah of the same school as the best teacher for 2008. In the Junior High School (JHS) category, Mr Sampson Yao Fiati of Manso Anglican JHS won the first prize for 2007 and Mr Nelson Kyei of Dompim Number One JHS was adjudged the best JHS teacher for 2008. Mr Francis Gyamfi of Mpohor Senior High School (SHS) picked the best SHS teacher award for 2007 while Mr Samuel Amoah of the same school won for 2008. They were given colour television sets, refrigerators, bags of cement and gas cookers. Source: GNA