Ghana tops West Africa in teacher absenteeism

Ghana ranks first in teacher absenteeism in West Africa, reports by the World Bank and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have revealed.
According to the reports, teacher absenteeism is the major contributory factor to the low performance of pupils and students in public basic schools in the country.
Deputy Minister of Education, Alex Kyeremeh, revealed this at a stakeholders’ forum on education at Dormaa-Ahenkro on Thursday.
Mr Kyeremeh urged Regional and District Directors of education to collaborate effectively with Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, to strengthen oversight of education by paying unannounced visits to basic schools. He said this would enable them to identify truant teachers so that action could be taken against them.
Mr Kyeremeh said ensuring quality education was based on three pillars: access, quality and equity and that while the government would make basic education easily accessible and affordable, teachers must support government’s efforts in order to improve performances.
It is estimated that in Ghana over one million children are out of school, primarily due to lack of teachers and classrooms.
Recently there was a huge outcry over the abysmal performance in the WASSCE examinations, with only 28.1% of students scoring enough marks in core subjects to qualify for admission to tertiary institutions.
Source: GNA