Focus on improving conditions of service for teachers – Former Education Director
Mr Joseph Kingsley Onyinah, immediate-past Ashanti Regional Director of Education, has underlined the need to make the conditions of service for teachers attractive to inspire them to perform better.
He said although there had been some improvement over the years, a lot still needed to be done.
Mr Onyinah was speaking at a ceremony held to reward some hard working teachers and education workers in the Sekyere-East District at Effiduase.
In all, 25 teachers, seven non-teaching staff and a best performing school in HIV-AIDS education were recognized with prizes.
They carried away with them television sets, refrigerators, gas stoves and cylinders and certificates.
Mr Onyinah urged heads of schools and education directors to also contribute to teacher retention by providing the right leadership to create a congenial atmosphere for them to work with zeal and commitment.
Additionally, materials and logistics to work with must be made available.
He asked “What will be the use of paying teachers the best salaries if they are not supplied with the basic tools and materials like syllabuses, notebooks and even chalks?.”
He suggested what he termed a “teacher rotation system” under which teachers would from time-to-time be moved from the urban school to the deprived rural schools and vice versa.
This could help bridge the teacher distribution gap between the rural and urban schools.
Madam Augusta Akyaa Sarpong, the District Director, praised the teachers for their hard work and sacrifices and urged them to continue on that path.
She spoke of the determination of the education directorate to strengthen supervision in the schools to check indiscipline and ensure effective use of the contact-hours.
Mr Solomon Agyei-Mensah, the District Chief Executive (DCE), said the government would provide the infrastructure and other interventions to promote access and quality of education.
The assembly would complement this by motivating the teachers with incentive packages.
Nana Adu Ameyaw, Chief of Effiduase, advised school children to be disciplined and hardworking.
Source: GNA