The Ashanti Regional Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES), has denied reports that it is recruiting qualified graduates to teach in Senior High Schools (SHS).

Mr Kofi Sarfo Kantanka, the Regional Director, said there is no such thing happening in the region, and dissociated the GES from false text messages being sent to people on their phones.

He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that phone text message was a cruel hoax – a deception that should be ignored.

He said many of the schools across the districts have excess teachers, and that what they are currently doing is a staff rationalization exercise to deal with the over-staff situation.

Some of the districts have teachers than they require, and some of them are being re-posted to areas where their services are needed most.

He said under the rationalization exercise, as many as 210 teachers had been transferred to the Atwima-Mponua District, 186 to Ejura-Sekyedumasi, 150 to Sekyere Afram Plains, 125 to the Asante-Akim South, 69 to Amansie Central, 60 to Sekyere-Central, 50 to Ahafo-Ano South and 22 to the Asante-Akim North.

Mr. Sarfo Kantanka put the excess teacher population in the region at 8,228, which is the highest nationwide, followed by Brong-Ahafo with 3,881, Northern 2,465, Eastern, 2,166 and Volta with 1,920.

The figure for Greater-Accra stands at 1,780, Upper East, 1,574, Central, 1,426, Upper West, 800 and the Western Region, 753.

Mr. Sarfo Kantanka again pointed out that staff recruitment into SHS is done by the heads for approval by the Regional Education Office.