The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has described as empty threats issued by Education Minister Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh that head teachers of basic and second cycle schools would be sacked if 90 per cent of their students fail the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Dr Prempeh, while addressing heads of senior high schools in Kumasi as part of a two-day familiarisation tour of the Ashanti Region, warned that the Ministry would not continue to tolerate school heads who superintend over consistently poor performances.

He said, among other things: "Any school head who superintends over a failure of over 90 per cent cannot be allowed to continue operating without accounting to the Ghana Education Service (GES).”

But reacting to these comments in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom, on Accra on Thursday February 16, David Ofori Acheampong, GNAT General Secretary, said: “This is really a threat but an empty threat. On what grounds is he going to sack the teachers?

“As we speak, you will not find a single syllabus in the basic schools –we only have that for kindergarten. When I started teaching, my headmasters gave me a syllabus and textbooks to use to teach; today, the situation is different.

They have supplied the syllabus as soft copies, asking us to go and print. Even in Accra, how many people have access to internet facilities – not to talk of those in the rural areas?

“Moreover, there are several defects in our educational system that government hasn’t addressed and now they are talking about sacking head teachers. This is unacceptable, it is unfortunate that he made those comments.”