Attendance

Bolgatanga, Sept. 22, GNA - Mr Michael Kenneth Nsowaah, Acting Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has expressed dismay at the poor attendance of teachers and pupils on the first day of re-opening of schools in the country.

Speaking during a visit to the Aningazanga Primary School as part of a one-day working tour of the Bolgatanga Municipality, Mr Nsowaah charged directors to ensure that classes begin as soon as schools re-open so as not to lose precious time.

The Director-General was accompanied by Mr Kenneth Dabuo, Upper East Regional Director of Education and the Bolgatanga Municipal Director of Education, Mr Anthony Aziabah.

In a related development, Mr Anthony Aziabah has visited six schools in his municipality, the first of such visits since he took office a couple of months ago, as Municipal Director.

The schools visited included Akantome Primary and Junior Secondary, Sacred Heart Junior Secondary, and St. John's Junior Secondary School. Others are St. George's Primary and St. Charles Primary schools.

Addressing a staff meeting at St. Charles's Primary School, Mr Aziabah said heads of Basic Schools as frontliners in education delivery, needed to be alive to their responsibilities of ensuring that the re-opening day of the schools was respected by both pupils and teachers.

He mentioned the Director-General's dismay of the poor attendance on the first day of re-opening of some schools, and noted that most schools in the municipality were guilty of wasting the first week instead of using those days for effective academic work.

He directed that teachers should always begin classes on the first day of school's re-opening as that would hammer home time consciousness in their pupils.

He warned that he would deal drastically with heads who were not ready to work hard.

Heads of the schools he visited complained of the lack of teaching and learning materials, including furniture, lesson note-books attendance registers and chalk.