PTAs FORM JOINT COMMITTEE TO CHECK TEACHER ABSENTEEISM

(Daily Graphic, Nov 11, 2011, Page 11)

PARENT Teacher Associations (PTA) in the Northern Region have formed a joint committee to monitor the activities of teachers in a bid to check teacher absenteeism in the region.

This follows a number of concerns raised by parents and civil society organisations that many teachers in the region were absenting themselves from the classrooms more often and this phenomenon was contributing to poor performance of pupils in the region.

The committee has therefore been tasked to work with PTAs in all parts of the region to strengthen supervision in all schools and also collate information on teacher absenteeism in their respective areas.

The committee, which is made up of nine members, was inaugurated in Tamale during a regional PTA consultative meeting to deliberate on teacher absenteeism and poor performance of pupils in the Northern Region.

Two organisations, Action Aid Ghana and Grameen Ghana partnered to organise the meeting and they were equally the brains behind the formation of the committee.

The Head of Programmes for Grameen Ghana, Mr Mumin Musah pointed out that teacher absenteeism referred not only to the absence of a teacher from school, but also the failure of teacher to teach even when present at school.

He said it was the expectation of Grameen Ghana and Action Aid that the committee would work assiduously to check this growing phenomenon.

Mr Musah said the committee would be assisted to undertake research to ascertain the occurrence of this phenomenon and the factors contributing to its survival.

“We would also support the committee to implement various recommendations that may come out from this study, especially in the area of advocacy,” he stated.

Mr Musah indicated that teacher absenteeism was a major cause of poor performance in basic schools, adding that the situation was more pronounced in rural schools where some teachers vacate the classrooms for private business activities or unapproved study-leaves.

He said the two organisations had done extensive work with various PTAs on this phenomenon and one of the problems identified was the inability of PTAs to mobilize themselves into a bigger platform and present a common voice on this issue for government’s attention.

“Experiences from this work have resulted in the need to form a regional PTA platform and to develop a comprehensive plan for engaging GES and school authorities on teacher absenteeism in schools,” he further noted.

The interim chairman of the newly-formed Regional PTA Committee, Mr Nantogmah Dasana Roland expressed the readiness of the committee to hit the ground running so as to address the menace of teacher absenteeism.

He however cautioned that the mandate of the committee would not be met if PTAs in all districts failed to co-operate with it.

“We would do our best and so we need all PTAs to support us to end this canker and rescue education in our region from the doldrums,” he said.