Ms Philippa Larsen, the immediate past President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), has called for the decentralisation of teacher deployment to ensure effective teaching and learning outcomes.
She said the current system where teachers are deployed from the headquarters of the Ghana Education Service (GES) is not helping to meet the teacher demands in some schools, thereby resulting in poor performances by some schools during external examinations.
“In the past, teacher deployment used to be the role of school authorities and district education directorate because they know the schools with vacancies, but it seems that now teacher deployment is centralised without recourse to the data we submitted on teacher demand at the schools,” she noted.
Ms Larsen, also the head teacher of Bawjiase D/A Basic ‘B’ School in the Central Region, made the call during an expert panel discussion on strengthening education accountability framework in Ghana’s education system, in Accra.
She stated that there had been instances where teachers had been posted to over-staffed schools in certain districts at the expense of schools that needed them most.
“We have had a situation where two teachers were handling eight classes in a school so how do you expect the pupils to perform.
Some of these schools are in island communities and so whenever the head teacher travels to the district education office, it’s left with only one teacher to teach eight classes and yet, they are expected to achieve accountability and learning outcomes,” she lamented.
Ms Larsen also advocated special incentives for teachers posted to rural and underserved communities.
She said there was a motivation package for teachers working in deprived communities, however, the incentives were not being enforced.
Mr Anis Haffar, an Author and Educationalist on the panel, said the world was moving towards digitisation, therefore, educational learning materials and equipment must be digitalised to meet the demands of the fourth industrial revolution era.
“We are in a digital era and so, we need to move from analogue to digital system to address the gaps in the education sector,” he said.
Mr Haffar also called for effective handling of the information management system in schools to aid in addressing deficiencies in the sector.
Professor Enoch Opoku Antwi, an Associate Dean, Business Administration and Communication Arts, Academic City University College, said education accountability framework bothered on individual stakeholders’ character and actions and how he/she placed value on assigned roles and responsibilities.
In her welcome remarks, Ms Rasheena Reid, USAID/Ghana Education Office Director, said education was fundamental to human development and, therefore, lied at the heart of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s work.
“It drives economic growth, promotes social inclusion and empowers individuals and communities,” she noted.
Ms Reid thus called for robust systems to ensure quality, equity and accountability in the education sector.
“The United States is Ghana’s largest bilateral development partners.bin 2023 as part of over $250 million provided in bilateral programmes, USAID provided over $140 million in bilateral development support.
This funding covered various areas, including education, agriculture, economic growth, health and more,” she stated.
Ms Reid said the Agency’s efforts focused on three key areas: First, strengthening the enabling environment through policies and regulations that promote transparency and incentivise performance.
Secondly, building the capacity of key stakeholders in the education sector at all levels to effectively fulfill their roles and responsibilities.
And thirdly, fostering citizen engagement to amplify community voices in monitoring education service delivery, Ms Reid pointed out.
The Education Accountability Framework (EAF) clearly defines the roles, responsibilities, and expectations of key players in the education sector including policymakers, education managers at every level from the school to the Ministry, teachers, and parents, in terms of ensuring quality teaching and learning throughout the system.
