Bolgatanga, Nov. 18, GNA- Mrs. Agnes Attagabe, Bolgatanga Municipal Director of Education, has appealed to teachers to shun negative tendencies because in 2010 their performance would determine whether they would take their salaries.

She said this when she met 47 head teachers to analyse the 2009 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Mr Attagabe appealed to teachers to instil moral values, patriotism and discipline in their pupils as it was the surest way of achieving quality education.

She said she was not happy with the performance of the schools in the BECE and expressed hope that the 2009 results would stimulate schools that had poor results to emulate schools that performed well.

Mr. Elvis Apam, the Municipal Education Examination Officer, said in 2008 the Bolgatanga Municipal schools scored 46.5 per cent as against 57.2 per cent in the 2009 (BECE).

Mr. Apam said for the first time two public Junior High Schools, Aynusinyine and Dorongo, had 100 per cent passes to compete favourably with the private schools.

Heads of the junior high schools at the meeting strongly felt that the large class sizes and the use of dual desks which encourages copying and the mass promotion done in the schools caused the poor performance at the BECE. They called on parents to involve themselves in the monitoring of their wards' performance to improve quality education.