0% in examinations would no longer be tolerated- minister

Koforidua, Oct 15, GNA- Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, the Eastern Regional Minister has stated that the scoring of zero percent in examinations by schools was not acceptable considering the huge investments government makes in education.

He called for the overhauling and strengthening of the supervision division of the directorates of education, adding that heads of public schools be tasked to perform better and render accounts of examination results.

The Regional Minister was addressing the 16th conference of Directors of Education (CODE) at Koforidua on the theme, "Financing Pre-tertiary Education-the Role of Stakeholders".

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the scoring of zero percent at the basic examination levels calls on directors of education to re-double their efforts and performances.

He said directors of education must ensure judicious spending of fun= ds according to lay down procedures, and also ensure that teachers who go on=

study leave with government pay, returned to the classroom to improve the=

standards of education. Dr Joseph Annan, the Deputy Minister for Education said as managers of education it behoved on them to ensure that government had value for mone= y by supervising the activities of the schools to ensure that standards wer= e not compromised. He indicated that government's heavy investments in infrastructure a= nd logistics must get a responsive performance from directors who managed th= e educational system as a stakeholder. Dr Annan noted that for the parent stakeholder not to be overburdene= d with its role, government had introduced subsidies to alleviate the pligh= t of the parent and urge the directors to ensure that schools did not levy the children. The Deputy Minister, said government also recognized the relevance of=

technical and vocational education and would therefore accelerate enrolme= nt into such courses to meet the demands of the oil industry. He said without the technical and vocational education, Ghana might not benefit fully from its oil industry, as skills such as welding, plumbing and other related ones would have to be imported. Dr Annan assured the directors that Government would improve the conditions of service of teachers especially the directors and urge them to discharge their duties assiduously to justify the call for better conditi= ons from government. The President of CODE, Mrs. Sophia Awotwi, said as directors they we= re confronted with challenges of indiscipline especially among teachers. She called for empowerment by the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education, by standing by them when it came to unwarranted opposition towards disciplinary measures taken, so that the dignity of th= e director was not further compromised.