Nkoranza (B/A), Sept. 28, GNA - The Nkoranza District Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has taken measures to check absenteeism and malingering among students and teachers, Mr Jarvis Agyeman-Badu, District Director of Education has said.

He told the Ghana News Agency at Nkoranza on Saturday that he had advised all the 10 circuit supervisors in the district to move to reside at their circuit centres to enable them to visit the schools frequently. Mr. Agyeman-Badu explained that the supervisors' permanent stay at their centres would also enable them to address challenges facing the students and teachers.

"Their closeness to the schools will afford them the chance to interact and share ideas with parents and community leaders to draw programmes that can help promote education in the area," he said. He said with the exception of major decisions that need his own attention, the supervisors had been empowered to attend to issues about classroom teachers to prevent them from travelling to the district office at Nkoranza on trivial issues.

Mr. Agyeman-Badu deplored the practice by some teachers to engage in economic ventures like trading during school hours and warned that his administration would not tolerate such negative attitudes. Any teacher who would place his or her personal interest above the education of the children would be made to suffer the necessary punishment, he warned.

The District Director announced that the directorate had taken delivery of 70 bicycles from the government for distribution to teachers serving in deprived areas to facilitate their movements and to boost their morale.

He commended the government for the incentive packages and called on teachers to reciprocate the gesture and help uplift the standard of education in the country.

Mr. Agyeman-Badu also commended the Nkoranza District Assembly for supporting education, citing the Assembly's 20 million cedi support for the district's Science Technology and Mathematics Education Clinic at Nkoranza recently.