Government should review study leave policy- Coalition

Accra, May 27, GNA - The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) on Friday called on the government to review the study leave policy for teachers to make it effective.

The Coalition said some teachers did not return to the classroom after the State had sponsored them during their study leave.

The call was made at a Civil Society Education Sector Annual Review meeting in Accra on the theme: 93Quality Basic Education in Ghana." The day's meeting brought together about 30 participants from Civil Society Organisations in Education, Ministry of Education, Ghana Education

Service and GNECC to assess the performance of teachers in the sector. The Coalition said it was ready to support and make teaching attractive for teachers to stay and champion the cause of good quality work in the sector.

The Coalition also demanded that teacher training colleges be upgraded with their courses and certificates to a degree level instead of diploma. It added that with the upgrading system teachers would not go for further studies when they already had their qualifications.

The Coalition explained that it was the responsibility of the State to train and retrain teachers and in doing so any teacher who would be sponsored to go outside to retrain must sign a bond to return.

It noted that high teacher absenteeism was one of the key inefficiencies in the education sector and it was more common in the rural schools.

The Coalition said this could be attributed to lack of supervision, medical care, collection of salary at a bank located at a distance, long distance to schools and lack of facilities among other considerations.

The Coalition urged government to continue the training for teachers with the condition that they returned to serve and help grow the education sector.