Bongo (UE), June 21, GNA- Teachers who engage in absenteeism, lateness and drunkenness during school hours are not finding it easy in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region, since many of them have been made to face sanctions including suspended salaries and demotions. These punishments are meted out by the District Directorate of Education to make the teachers to turn over a new leaf, Mr. Francis Agyeere, the District Director said on Thursday.

Mr. Agyeere made this known at a public dissemination forum organised by the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights, SEND Foundation of Ghana, a non-governmental organisation and civil society organisations, to evaluate how government is faring on the Education and Health components of the Millennium Development Goals. He said the spate of absenteeism, lateness and drunkenness among teachers were very high in the district and to correct the situation the directorate had to resort to hard disciplinary measures to check the canker. Mr. Agyeere said so far, about 24 teachers had been affected by the punitive measures. He noted that a disciplinary committee has been set up by the directorate to discipline teachers who flout the ethics of the profession.

The District Director said the disciplinary measures were yielding positive results. He said circuit supervisors in the district had been provided with motorbikes to facilitate their work. Mr. Agyeere said attendance book for teachers had also been put in place to indicate the time of arrival and closing of the personnel to enable head teachers and circuit supervisors to submit monthly reports to the directorate. He asked the government to provide accommodation for teachers especially in remote areas where they had to travel long distances to teach.

Mr. Agyeere stressed the need for the people to see the schools in their localities as community- owned and take part in running them and reporting all abnormalities to the education directorate. He asked the traditional authorities to actively participate in school administration to ensure that better results are achieved. Participants at the forum who included teachers, health workers, chiefs, civil society organisations appealed to the government to extend Information Communication and Technology facilities and books to the schools promote teaching and learning.