About 50 per cent of teachers in basic schools do not prepare lesson notes, Dr. George Afeti, Director, National Inspectorate Board of the Ministry of Education, told the GNA.

He said such teachers go to school unprepared and often ineffective in classrooms which, coupled with high teacher absenteeism, accounted for the poor standard of education in the country.

Dr. Afeti said textbooks provided by the government for distribution to basic schools across the country, were not getting to the schools due to bad roads or in some cases those books were locked up in head teachers’ offices for safekeeping.

Dr. Afeti said consequently, five pupils were sharing four textbooks instead of a textbook to a pupil.

He said the Board also found that 68 per cent of basic schools were not holding School Performance Approval Meetings (SPAMs) and 28 per cent of schools had not been visited by circuit supervisors in a year.

Dr. Afeti said his outfit had submitted a report on the situation to the Ministry and Parliament for action.

The National Inspectorate Board is an independent body, which acts like an “external auditor” for the Ghana Education Service.