<<Print>>

The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has directed the Bosomtwe District Director for Education to immediately take appropriate disciplinary action against the headteacher of Jachie D/A One Junior High School, Mr Jonas Yeboah, in the Bosomtwe District in the Ashanti Region.

He further requested that similar disciplinary action be taken against teachers who were present at school last Wednesday, July 7, 2021.

The minister's action follows what he described as, "unprofessional conduct" of the headteacher and his staff when he paid a surprise visit to the school around 11: 23 a.m. and discovered that all teachers in the school were seated under a wooden shed near the school, chatting while the pupils were unattended to and playing in their respective classrooms.

Background

On Wednesday, the Education Minister who is the Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe, embarked on an educational tour of his constituency and also met with the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mr Mohammed Awal, to look at how to develop tourism along the banks of Lake Bosomtwe.

While returning from the trip, the minister made an unannounced visit to some schools in the district, leading to the discovery of the staff of Jachie D/A One JHS wasting instructional time while the pupils were left on their own idling about in class.

The minister and his entourage upon their arrival, greeted the teachers, who were relaxing under the wooden shed, after which he proceeded to the classrooms to find out how teaching was taking place.

Unfortunately, after visiting all the classrooms, Dr Adutwum found out that there was no teacher in any of the classrooms while the pupils were busy playing and not being attended to.

Disciplinary action

"This angered Dr Adutwum who requested to see the headteacher of the school but was told he was unavailable leading to the minister's directive against the teachers," the Press Secretary of the Minister, Mr Felix Baidoo, explained.

He explained that when contacted, the Bosomtwe District Director of Education, Mr Prince Charles Agyemang Duah, said he had asked the Circuit Supervisor for Jachie, Madam Faustina Amankwah, to act as the headteacher of the school, "while the headteacher has been asked to report to the District Education office for re-assignment".

Mr Baidoo further explained that a team was being put in place to take appropriate disciplinary action against all the teachers in the school.

Mr Baidoo said such unannounced visits would be done routinely throughout the country by the minister, and advised heads of schools to ensure that teachers under them performed their duties as expected of them.

He said the government was investing in education for better learning outcomes, and as such teachers should not be the stumbling blocks in that direction.