The Ministry of Education has announced a reduction in teacher absenteeism at the basic school level from 27 percent, to about 11 percent in the last three years.
Speaking at an education decentralization campaign, led by the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition in Accra, a Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary, Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa, highlighted the progress his outfit had made in the fight against this canker.
[contextly_sidebar id=”BRO4lzVO7c5HTHJfMhOn0Jf8fP7P1ojn”]He noted that formerly, the rate of teacher absenteeism was at an “unacceptable” and “criminal” level of 27 percent.
This accounted for over a quarter of the 392,000 teachers employed by the government in basic schools according to the Deputy Minister of Education.
“If you look the numbers, you have 392,000 teachers at the basic level and more than quarter of that number. It means thousands of people were just not showing up and yet they were smiling to the bank at the end of the month.”
Mr. Ablakwa however hailed the progress the Education Ministry has made in the last couple of years saying, “I am happy to report that as I speak to you, the current numbers have come down. We are looking at between 9 – 11 percent.”
‘Zero Tolerance for Teacher Absenteeism’
The Minister of Education, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang inaugurated a committee to work and find solutions to teacher absenteeism in 2014.
The committee, known as the ‘Zero Tolerance for Teacher Absenteeism’, formed part of efforts by the Ministry to effectively implement the policy and increase working hours teachers spend in the class room.
The inter-sectorial committee was mandated to deliberate and submit proposals to address the issue of teacher absenteeism and limited contact hours.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana