The
Upper West Akim District Director of Education has debunked claims in the media
that the Ghana Education Service (GES) has directed headteachers of both public
and private basic schools to pay GH¢60 per school for “Walk-through” exercise
on the new English curriculum.
She
said recent online publications that suggested the authorities in the district
charged head teachers the amount for the exercise were misleading.
In
a news release rebutting the claim, first published on Starrfmonline.com, the district director said the GES had not
directed anybody to charge the fees as being claimed.
The
online outlets had claimed that there was an uneasy calm among teachers in
schools in the district due to the directive, and further claimed that “the
amount, according to a letter written and signed by the District Director of
Education, Rose Yaa Akanyi, will cover learning resources, handouts, and cost
on venue, transportation and accommodation of the language coordinators.”
Explaining
her side of the issue, the district director said, “I took over as the
Education Director in Upper West Akim District in 2018. BECE results were very
alarming. In 2016, the district had two schools scoring 0 per cent. In 2017,
four schools scored 0 per cent and in 2018, six schools scored 0 per cent.”
“My
first BECE was in 2019. As a first step, I did a lot of consultative meetings
and we put a lot of activities including meeting with communities churches the
District Assembly as well teachers and students. In 2019, the BECE results
showed a marginal improvement. Five out of the 6-0 per cent schools came out
successfully. Schools that had scored 0 per cent consistently for 8 years came
out of that zone; some of them even made 100 per cent,” she added.
She
said that as a result of the improvements, “the district invited the Eastern
Regional Language Coordinator to train our primary teachers for a cost of GH¢60
per school. This amount is for the whole school from KG1 to Basic 6. This is
made up of between 8 and 12 teachers. The amount was directly paid by the head teachers
to the trainer.”
She said, “Unfortunately, the media reported that I’m extorting money from teachers but that is an erroneous impression. I am innocent and I cannot allow the media to damage my reputation and the good intentions we have for Ghana’s education.”
BY Melvin Tarlue