The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has blasted the minister for education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, aka Napo, for saying that the head teachers of basic and second cycle schools in the country 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).
"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),†Opoku Prempeh said.
But in a reaction on Accra-based Class FM David Ofori Acheampong, the general Secretary of GNAT Opoku Prempeh’s remark was “a threat but an empty threatâ€, adding: “On what grounds is he going to sack the teachers?â€
Acheampong suggested that instead of threatening teachers, the minister should have provide basic teaching and learning materials which he said were severely missing in schools across the country.
“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,†he said.
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