Government has ordered the hanging of the portrait of President John Evans Atta Mills in the classrooms of all public schools across the country, even though the educational system is currently on its knees.

This move is apparently geared toward dousing the flame of unpopularity of the president among school kids.

For those who breach the order, sanctions will be applied by the authorities, the District Chief Executive of the Atwima Nwabiagya in the Ashanti Region has hinted.

The Deputy Local Government And Rural Development Minister, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, vowed to enforce the directive, which is considered an attempt at shoring up the image of the President.

The situation was occasioned by the embarrassment suffered by the Ashanti Regional Minister and his entourage on a ‘My First Day At School’ visit, during which basic school pupils mentioned Nana Akufo-Addo as President of Ghana.

Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, still reeling from the embarrassment resulting from that occurrence, said that there is only one President in the country, the usual mantra of President Mills whenever he was under pressure.

President Mills, upon the arrival of Nana Akufo-Addo from a foreign trip, and seeing a large and overwhelming turnout of party supporters at the Kotoka International Airport, retorted to visiting Ghana Journalists Association officials that there was only one president in the country.

Describing the directive as proactive, Mr Afriyie-Ankrah noted: “We have one president at any given time. The portrait of the president is supposed to be displayed at all public places, period!” He added that the directive would be communicated to all germane institutions countrywide. It was not clear whether the directive would affect public places of convenience (toilets) as the deputy minister was not ready to take any question after the order.

The first public official to unfold the directive was the DCE for Atwima Nwabiagya, Nana Asare Bediako, whose seriousness in implementing it was not in doubt when he spoke to Joy FM yesterday.

“I have charged my district director of education to make sure that every single institution within the district should have flag hanged. Quite apart from that, their offices from primary, junior high and senior high [schools] should have the portraits of His Excellency Professor Fiifi Atta Mills also hanged there.”

But the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, Nat Abraham Kweku Bonsu is not amused about the directive, considering it as lacking justification.

“I am against the position because of the directive that he used. Since when [has it become] the [duty] of GES, particularly teachers, to perform the functions of the Information Services Department of the Ministry of Information?”

Last month’s ‘My First Day at School’ drama provoked a mixed bag of political debate.

The ‘Hang the President’s Picture’ order has annoyed many, especially stakeholders in the educational system, some of who are currently on strike over matters related to remuneration and allowances.

While the teachers of the country’s public tertiary institutions are currently on strike, the Committee of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) are pointing at challenges which would make it impossible for them to operate effectively.

Even in the face of the order, many schools across the country, especially in the Upper East Region, are without basic inputs such as furniture, register, exercise and text books, DAILY GUIDE has learnt.

The strike action by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) is continuing, with government appearing intransigent to meet the demands of the aggrieved teachers.

For these teachers and their students, such a directive, against the backdrop of the cost involved, can only be superfluous and a misplacement of priority.