Nyinahin (Ash), March 12, GNA - Teachers at Nyinahin in the Atwima District have denied media reports that they abandon classes to attend spiritual praying sessions on Fridays.

They, however, admitted that the Muslim basic schools had planned their timetable in such a way that a period was allotted to the Muslim teachers and pupils to say prayers in the afternoons.

The denial came when Mr Eddy Obeng-Darko, Atwima District Director of Education met the teachers, School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) at Nyinahin on Thursday as a follow up to a media reports that the teachers granted Fridays as holidays to the pupils and attended spiritual praying sessions.

Mr Obeng-Darko advised them to refrain from acts that tended to undermine the government's efforts at improving education standards in the country.

"The country's Constitution permits freedom of religion and association but teachers should not enjoy this freedom at the expense of normal contact hours", he said.

Mr Obeng-Darko noted that the improved academic performance achieved by the district since the past four years was a great challenge to the teachers and other stakeholders to improve upon it and to achieve higher performance.

The District Director of Education warned the teachers to desist from any unprofessional attitudes that might tarnish the image and modest academic achievement of the district.

Mr Francis Nkrumah, Nyinahin Circuit Supervisor, who presided, advised schools in the area to work very hard to improve upon the 2003 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results.