Education Director bemoans falling standards of Education

Madam Patricia Ayekor, the Bawku West District Director of Education at the weekend bemoaned the sharp decline in the standards of education in the district.

She attributed this phenomenon to pupils’ unwillingness to study, teacher absenteeism and parent’s look warm attitude towards the education of their wards.

The Director observed that pupils in Primary and Junior High Schools preferred to own expensive mobile phones and constantly recharge them at the expense of their education, while parent’s preference laid in the performance of expensive funerals and occasions.

Madam Ayekor, who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency at Zebilla on Monday, indicated that her outfit was frantically working to ensure that the phenomenon was fully checked.

The Director recalled her personal encounter with pupils who were out of school and travelling to mining sites in the district to engage in “galamsey” at the expense of classroom work, and said in spite of extensive community education on the need for parents to take the education of their wards serious, less attention is given to that sector.

She said the directorate had taken stringent measures to check teacher absenteeism and alcoholism by introducing effective daily teacher roll call in classrooms and strict performance exercises and monitoring as part of efforts to compel teachers to exhibit utmost professionalism in the teaching career.

She called on stakeholders to focus on the compulsory aspect of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), and said it guaranteed better education for the children in the area, adding that, the stakeholders especially parents must avoid unnecessary expenses at the cost of their wards education.

She called on chiefs, opinion leaders and other stakeholders to support the Ghana Education service in the district to widen its community education programmes to give residents, especially parents better understanding of the need to give priority to the education of their children.