A concerned teacher has lamented the failure of teachers to abide by the code of ethics that govern the teaching profession.

Speaking on the Super Morning Show on Tuesday, the teacher who gave his name as only Emmanuel stated that this has resulted in various breaches against students' rights and promoted the unprofessional practice.

The concern comes in the wake of the death of nine students of the St Charles Liwanga R/C Junior High school in the Saboba District of the Northern Region who got drowned in a canoe disaster.

The students were among 31 students who had gone to help their headteacher harvest rice on his farm, but on their return journey, the exercise turned sour when nine of the students drowned following the capsizing of their boat in River Oti.

Ebenezer, who expressed grief over the incident, stated that this could have been prevented if circuit supervisors at the Education Ministry were performing their duties well by ensuring that teachers abide by the code of ethics governing the profession.

"This thing that happens can never happen in an international school or a school which has guidelines that professionals follow. Code of conduct is something GES provides as to how its employees will behave according to the policy of the Ministry of Education...[but] Code of Ethics is what we are talking about where professional teachers are supposed to behave in a professional way abide.

"So I think that the failure here is in the ineptitude that we have exhibited Circuit supervisors are failing. I don't remember the last time any school or district circuit supervisor did in-service training for teachers. Teachers are left to make mistakes and punished when we have not schooled the teachers on what to do.

Thus, the teacher with 26 years of experience urged the Ministry to provide regular training for teachers, especially for those in remote areas.

"Again, when was the last time we had any continuous professional training for teachers? People have gotten into the teaching profession because there's no job to do, and we've left everything to the teacher to decide.

"It's a very sad spectacle for us, but I think that we need to start looking at this. Let's be more proactive rather than reactive," he said.