Controversy at Education Directorate over postings

A rumpus is raging between Basic School Unit Heads and officials at the Volta Regional Education Directorate over the posting of newly trained teachers.

Unit heads are protesting that their responsibilities of postings and transfers had been taken from them without notice while Ghana Education Service (GES) Regional Directorate sources claimed the new move was to rationalise the posting procedure for “equity”.

On Wednesday July 9, this year, Unit Heads were invited to a Postings Conference at the Directorate, during which, as was the practice, they were to pick cards of teachers for postings, but were told, there were no cards for them.

The sources said this situation resulted in heated arguments and later a walkout of the Conference by the Unit Heads.

Richard Kudedzi, Regional Director of Salvation Army Education Unit told the GNA on Wednesday, July 16, this year that the Unit Heads were told to collaborate with the District Directors for the postings but the situation was “abnormal.”

He said the procedure had been for the Unit Heads to post teachers to their schools, while the District Directors selected for District Assembly and Local Authority schools.

Mr Kudedzi said the Unit Heads were “slapped” with the new arrangements at the Conference and feared it could affect smooth running, monitoring and supervision of schools.

“We don’t know what they are doing now. They invited us to come for the cards of new teachers for posting and later said they were asked to do the postings themselves. This is not how we were doing it and there is no document to prove that there is change of policy,” he stated.

“The impression we got during the exchanges was that the directive came by a text message,” he stated

Mr Kudedzi said if that supposed directive was maintained he wondered what kind of information would form the basis for the postings, as postings were done based on complex considerations.

He said he wondered how Unit Heads, whose schools were scattered across the region in different districts, would be linking up administratively with the District Directors for what should be a very important productivity-related exercise.

Meanwhile, Mr Forgive Yao Agoha, Public Relations Officer of the Directorate, told the GNA the directive from national headquarters was verbal and the new procedure was to correct the imbalance in staffing at schools.

He said the Unit Heads were expected to liaise with District Directors for the postings and there was not much difference between the current procedure and the old.