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Tag: GES

  • Coronavirus: How students who have completed WASSCE will return home

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) have jointly issued a guideline for the exit of students who have just completed the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and are returning home Friday, September 4, 2020 after a successful examination.

    Under the guidelines, any school where no positive case of COVID-19 has been recorded, the students can vacate and go home.

    Additionally, any school that recorded a positive case but has not reported any new positive case within the last two weeks, the students can vacate and go home, reports Graphic Online’s Severious Kale Dery on the Education Desk.

    This is contained in a statement jointly signed by the Director-General of the GES, Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa and the Director-General of the GES Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye and issued in Accra Thursday, September 3, 2020.

    After months of uncertainty and apprehension arising out of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Senior high schools (SHSs) reopened to final-year students on June 22 for them to undergo six weeks of academic work up to July 31, 2020.

    That enabled them to prepare to write their final examination between August 3 and September 4, this year.

    The 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) finally kicked off for Ghanaian candidates in July.

    In all, 375,737 candidates from 976 schools took part in the examination at 796 centres throughout the country.

    Out of the figure, about 188,163 were females, while the remaining 187,573 were males.

    more to follow…

    Source: Graphic.com.gh

  • Pay 14,000 ‘ghost’ teachers in 15 days or we’ll advise ourselves Teachers to GES

    Leaders of teacher unions across that country have said they will “advise themselves” if the management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) does not pay some 14,345 teachers and workers of the Service whose names were deleted from the payroll.

    A joint press statement issued by the Ghana National Association of Teacher (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT-GH) on Tuesday, 1 September 2020, said the teachers are also displeased because their salaries for the past three months have not been paid, even though they worked throughout the period.

    Describing the situation as “unacceptable”, the teacher unions have given the GES a 15-day ultimatum to fix the anomaly or “we have no other alternative than to advise ourselves”.

    Press statement from teacher unions

    The leadership of the teacher unions will want to show our displeasure and unhappiness to the unacceptable development where our 14,345 teachers and workers in the Ghana Education Service have had their names deleted from the payroll and have not been paid their salaries for the past three months, though evidence show that these teachers are at post and have been working.

    The unacceptable situation has come about as a result of a list developed and sent to the Controller and Accountant General Department (CAGD) by the Audit Service with the explanation that the affected teachers were not at post and are deemed as “ghost” teachers.

    We will want to indicate our indignation to the modus operandi of the Audit Service in declaring Public Sector Workers as “ghosts” without first resorting to the various service organizations for cross-checking and verification. A simple reference to the various Heads of Institutions of the affected GES workers to authenticate or otherwise, the presence of the worker could have avoided the embarrassment and pain caused these hard-working Teachers who are being made to go through pain they do not deserve.

    After several representations on the matter to the management of the GES, the leadership of the Unions were promised that the anomaly has been identified and that measures are far advanced to ensure that the affected teachers are paid.

    Unfortunately, the affected Teachers have not been paid their salaries, even for the month of August.

    The leadership and the entire membership of the Teacher Unions i.e. GNAT, NAGRAT and CCT-GH cannot and will not sit by for innocent and hardworking Teachers to be wrongly denied their legitimate salaries and compensation.

    We hereby call on the Audit Service to immediately withdraw that list of names given to the Controller and Accountant General Department and also ask the Ghana Education Service to immediately direct the payment of the salaries and arrears that have accrued to the affected teachers.

    We call on the management of the Ghana Education Service to ensure that the teachers are paid without delay.

    The leadership of the Teacher unions, GNAT, NAGRAT and CCT-GH is giving a 15 September 2020 ultimatum for the affected teachers to be paid or we have no other alternative than to advise ourselves.

    Source: Class FM

  • Second-year SHS, JHS students to resume October 5

    Second-year Junior High School and Senior High School students will be returning to school on October 5, 2020.

    This follows relevant consultations by the Ghana Education Service, according to President Akufo-Addo.

    “With Junior High Schools operating with class sizes of thirty (30), and Senior High Schools with class sizes of twenty-five (25), SHS 2 and JHS 2 students will be in school for ten (10) weeks to study, and write their end of term examinations,” the President said in an address to the nation on Sunday evening.

    Prior to reopening, all schools will be fumigated and disinfected.

    All JHS two and SHS two students will be given reusable face masks like was done for the final year JHS and SHS students who reported to school earlier in the year.

    JHS two students will also be given one hot meal a day.

    “SHS 2 students in boarding houses are to return to their various dormitories on 5th October, whilst day students, respecting fully the COVID-19 protocols, will commute from home to their respective schools on the same date. Prior to reopening, all Junior and Senior High Schools will be fumigated and disinfected. Just as was done in the case of final year university, JHS and SHS students, all JHS 2 and SHS 2 students, as well as all teaching and non-teaching staff, will be given reusable face masks. Each school will be provided with Veronica Buckets, gallons of liquid soap, rolls of tissue paper, thermometer guns, and 200 milli-litre containers of sanitizers. JHS 2 students will be given one hot meal a day,” President Akufo-Addo added.

    President Akufo-Addo, however, said pupils from KG to primary 6, JHS 1 and SHS 1  will, however, return to school in January 2021.

    “The Ghana Education Service, after further consultations, has decided to postpone the remainder of the academic year for all nursery, kindergarten, primary, JHS 1 and SHS 1 students. The next academic year will resume in January 2021, with appropriate adjustments made to the curriculum to ensure that nothing is lost from the previous year. The relevant dispositions will also be made so that the presence, at the same time, in school of all streams of students, can occur in safety.”

    Source: citinewsroom

  • Mobile Phone usage in schools to be reviewed GES

    Stakeholders in the education sector are considering reviewing the ban on mobile phone usage in schools.

    Mrs Esther Jones Safo, Ga North Municipal Director of Education, who disclosed this in Accra on Thursday, said the review would be done so that mobile phones could be used strictly for academic purposes.

    She said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after the inauguration and swearing-in of Executive Members of the Ga North Municipality Conference of Heads of Basic Schools (COHBS) at Pokuase in the Greater Accra Region.

    The inauguration was on the theme: “Providing Quality Education amid COVID-19 Pandemic, the Role of the Head Teacher.”

    COHBS seeks to bring together headteachers within the various directorates to share experiences, ideas, concerns and successes in the running of schools.

    Mrs Safo entreated students to desist from visiting restricted websites on phones and computers and rather take advantage of the Ghana Education Learning programmes on various television channels.

    She noted that in the era of COVID-19 headteachers must adopt strategies to help provide quality education.

    “Headteachers play a major role in the school management system and they are expected to come up with efficient and cost-effective strategies to improve on teaching and learning,” Mrs Safo said.

    “In these challenging times, headteachers are expected to explore various options for distance learning tools including online virtual lessons and downloadable lessons”.

    She said currently, schools around the world were being encouraged to reduce the rate of contact teaching and resort to the remote learning system to curb the spread of the pandemic.

    She, therefore, advised the headteachers to encourage their students to patronise radio and television programmes as well and appreciate distance learning.

    Mrs Safo drew their attention to the launch of the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP) by the Government in June, this year, which aimed at improving the quality of low performing basic schools and strengthening education sector accountability.

    “The project would also employ the phased approach to accommodate the gradual rollout of the new curriculum by government, which would begin with early grade (KG to primary six),” she said.

    It would be expanded to other levels of basic education as the new curriculum is rolled out.

    “The learning interventions are expected to reach approximately 10,000 poorly performing public schools (KG, primary and Junior High Schools),” Mrs Safo said.

    She entreated members of the Ga North COHBS to remain united to propel growth.

    Nii Tettey Okpe II, Amamole Mantse and Chairman of the occasion urged members of the newly constituted Ga North COHBS to double up their efforts to catch up with their counterparts who were inaugurated some time ago and called for teamwork among teachers and headteachers.

    Mr Edward Obeng Anim Pabi, COHBS Chairman for Ga North, explained that the Ga North Municipality was created in 2019 out of the Ga Central Municipality.

    He said that resulted in headteachers not belonging to any of the groups, hence the need to mobilise them under one umbrella.

    Mr Addo Nicholas Nii Kpakpoe, Greater Accra Regional Chairman, COHBS, urged members to set out and share their visions and missions with teachers to spur excellence in teaching and learning.

    There were solidarity messages from the La Nkwantanang, Ga Central, and Weija/Gbawe COHBS.

    Source: GNA

  • Akufo-Addo’s directive to GES to allow dismissed students write WASSCE good – Educationist

    Educationist and psychologist Mr. Samuel Richard Ziggah says the directive by President Akufo-Addo to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to allow the dismissed 14 students write their exams is a step in the right direction.

    GES last week issued a statement dismissing 14 students following recent acts of indiscipline and vandalism recorded in the ongoing West African Senior High School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

    The students were also barred from writing their remaining exams organized by the West African Examination Council (WAEC).

    GES in its statement said the punishment was to “serve as a deterrent and to ensure that life and property are protected in schools”.

    But Mr. Ziggah in his view said the punishment was done in a rush and did not correspond with what the students did.

    He, has, therefore, commended the president for the directive he gave.

    Speaking on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, Mr. Ziggah added the directive was not shocking because if it had not come, Ghanaians would have demanded for more answers.

    Meanwhile, he has alleged the students misbehaved because they were promised that they would be given the questions and even if they should fail, they would be passed.

    To him, authorities should have probed further before sanctioning the students.

    He said it was below the belt for the students to insult the president but they did what they did based on examples set by politicians who engage in insults in the media.

    He advised politicians to desist from engaging in politics of insults so they set good examples for our children.

    He has also asked for the GES to employ the services of counselors to counsel the students over the incident.

     

    Source: rainbownradioonline.com

  • WASSCE riots: Corporal punishment must be reintroduced – GNAT

    The Ghana Education Service must think of reintroducing corporal punishment to instill discipline in most schools across the country, President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Phillipa Larson has stated.

    Speaking on Morning Starr, Madam Larson said the behaviour of some candidates in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is a clear indication that the Ghana Education Service must reconsider the ban on corporal punishments in schools.

    “I think that as a country we should look at corporal punishment and bring it back in a way,” Madam Larson told sit-in host Lantam Papanko Monday morning on Starr 103.5FM.

    GES in 2017 officially banned all forms of corporal punishment of children in schools in Ghana as part of efforts aimed at promoting a safe and protective learning environment for children.

    The GES directed in January 2019 that a Positive Discipline Toolkit which gives alternatives to corporal punishments be adopted by all teachers.

    On Friday, the GES dismissed some 14 final year students who are believed to have caused chaos and destroyed properties in their respective schools in the wake of the ongoing WASSCE.

    The GES in a statement said the action is to serve as deterrent for other students who are still partaking in the exams.

    President Akufo-Addo on Sunday appealed to the Ghana Education Service to reconsider the decision to ban some 14 students from writing the ongoing WASSCE following their involvement in the recent chaos in their schools.

    In a statement Sunday, the President directed the Education Minister to intervene in order to ensure that the students are made to write the exams. The statement, however, noted the dismissal and other punishment meted to them must stand.

     

    Source: Starr FM

  • Sack final year SHS students involved in reckless violence from boarding house GES

    Heads of the various Senior High Schools(SHSs) where final year students have been engaged in misconduct over “strict invigilation” and “social distance” at examinations halls have been directed to deboardnize all students found culpable.

    According to the Ghana Education Service(GES), the deboardnized students will have to commute from their homes to the various schools under parental supervision.

    Also, Headmasters of these schools have been directed to report all forms of criminality to the Ghana Police Service for investigations to be conducted and punishment meted out where necessary.

    The Service has also ordered that students established to be involved in the destruction of school property should be surcharged.

    The Ghana Education Service in its statement called on parents to speak to their wards to maintain high level of discipline and comportment because pleas for mitigation will not be accepted by the various schools.

     

    Source: My News GH

  • You concentrate on fake leaked WASSCE question paper at your own peril GES to candidates

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has dismissed claims that a question paper in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) was deliberately leaked.

    In a statement signed by the Head of Public Relations Unit, Cassandra Twum Ampofo, the GES stated emphatically that the said leaked questions in circulation are bogus.

    The body advised the public to disregard all allegations that the questions were leaked to ensure the candidate excel in their exams.

    “Management of GES wishes to assure all candidates and the general public that the said question paper making the rounds is fake. Indeed, there is no WASSCE subject written by Ghanaian candidates called General paper.”

    “Management further assures the candidates and the general public that the examinations are being managed by responsible men and women who will never sacrifice the integrity of the examinations for any other expediency,” the statement said.

    All candidates were warned against concentrating on this question paper at the peril of their preparations.

    The Service has measures have been put in place to track those behind the supposed leaked fake question papers.

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has also described as fake the images of papers circulating on social media purported to be for upcoming Integrated Science examination.

    The WASSCE started Monday, July 20, across the country after over a month of preparation in school.

    President Akufo-Addo recalled final year students to school to study for their respective exit examinations.

    This was met with various criticism considering the outbreak and spread of Covid-19 in some schools shortly after the reopening.

     

    Source: myjoyonline 

  • GES begins recruitment of 2017, 2018 College of Education graduates

    The Ghana Education Service has announced the recruitment of trained teachers who completed the College of Education in 2017 and 2018.

    This announcement was captured in a statement released by the Ghana Education Service.

    According to the GES, the trained teachers who will be recruited are those who were not qualified for recruitment at the time of the earlier exercise, but have since qualified to be recruited.

    The GES indicated that applicants must meet the following criteria for consideration:

    1. Completed College of Education in 2017 or 2018 and have no outstanding /referral paper.

    2. Completed the mandatory one year National Service.

    3. Passed the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination.

    4. Available to work where your services are needed.

    Interested applicants are to access the GES official web portal www.gespromotions.gov.gh to complete the application form and attach a valid certificate on or before August 25, 2020.

    The GES also indicated that recruitment for other levels will be announced later.

    Below is a copy of the statement:

    Source: kuulpeeps.com

  • MEGHIS final year student dies

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has confirm the death of a final year Senior High School (SHS) student at Methodist Girls High School located at Mamfe in the Eastern region.

    The final year SHS student died just a few weeks after resumption of academic work to prepare for the final exams.

    A statement from the Ghana Education Service indicated that the female student of Methodist Girls High School located at Mamfe in the Eastern region died from Acute Malaria.

    The statement said the student whose name was given as Cindy Aku Sika Addo was rushed to the Tetteh Quarshie hospital on Thursday, July 16 but was transferred to Koforidua Regional Hospital on Friday where she met her untimely death.

    The Ghana Education Service has assured the family of its support in giving her a befitting burial.

    This increases the number of deaths to three in just a space of two weeks.

    Read statement below

     

    Source: My News GH

  • Death of Gwiraman SHS student not caused by school – GES

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has disputed claims that the death of a student of Gwiraman Senior High School was due to mishandling by the management of the school.

    GES says although it consoles family of the late Nathaniel Yankey, his death was not caused by the school.

    In a statement, GES said the family if the student rented a private hostel where the student stayed and was reporting to school because the school is an E-block community day school.

    The school was then informed about his ill health but when they called to check up on him yesterday (Wednesday, July 15, 2020), they were informed he had passed, the statement added.

    Source: Starr FM

     

  • Education Ministry, GES close for disinfection exercise after COVID-19 infections

    The Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service have closed their offices temporarily to allow for a disinfection exercise.

    This is after the Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who has recovered from COVID-19 infection, noted that some of his staff had also been infected with the virus.

    The Head of Communications at the Ministry, Ekow Vincent Assafuah told Citi News the disinfection meant workers had to leave work early on Friday.

    But he said he expects the staff to be at work next Monday.

    Mr. Assafuah also clarified earlier comments by Dr. Opoku Prempeh concerning the scale of infections at the Ministry.

    The minister said about 90 percent of his staff had the virus.

    But Mr. Assafuah has indicated that “he meant about 90 percent of his inner circle.”

    “The inner circle is not even up to 20 so it cannot be that about 90 percent of the staff of the Ministry of Education have contracted the coronavirus.”

     

    Source: citinewsroom 

  • Dont panic, Accra Girls coronavirus cases under control – GES, GHS to parents

    The Ghana Education Service has through a joint statement with the Ghana Health Service confirmed that six students, a teacher, and a spouse have tested positive for coronavirus in Accra Girls SHS.

    The affected persons, the statement assured have been separated from non-contacts.

    Also, testing of all contacts has commenced, the statement added.

    It further disclosed parents of all students who have tested positive would be allowed to visit their wards.

    Parents were also assured everything was being done to ensure the safety of students.

    Read the full statement below:

     

    Source: rainbowradioonline.com

  • Ensure all protocols are observed – GES tells heads of schools

    The Ghana Education Service is asking heads of senior high schools to ensure that students and staff strictly adhere to all the health and safety protocols outlined to curb the spread of the new coronavirus disease as schools open their gates to the final-year and second year Gold Track students.

    The Director-General of the GES, Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa who stated  this, said guidelines as to how the heads should manage the schools had been shared with them and the GES expected that they follow them to the letter.

    Speaking in an interview on the readiness of management of the GES for the reopening of the schools, Prof Opoku-Amankwa said all the PPE had been dispatched to all schools and it was the expectation that all the schools would have received their share by the close of Monday.

    Under the guidelines, students must wear masks at all times, wash hands with soap under running water or rub hands with alcohol-based
    hand sanitizer before entering a school compound, always observe social distancing of at least one metre and avoid handshaking or body contact as well as register their details including phone numbers with school authorities.

    The guidelines also expect the heads of the schools to provide thermometer guns or thermal scanners for checking the temperature of staff and students at all entry points of schools and also ensure the mandatory wearing of masks by all at all times as well as provide hand washing facilities with running water and soap and/or FDA approved alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

    Prof Opoku-Amankwa said the guidelines also included the seating protocols in the classrooms and the dining halls as well as the arrangement of beds in the dormitories.

    He said the guidelines also required that the heads provided adequate waste management facilities and adequate toilet facilities for students, staff, and visitors as well as ensure regular cleaning and disinfection of toilet facilities.

    Prof Opoku-Amankwa said the heads were expected to follow all the guidelines and best practices to ensure that there was safety and security on their campuses and in the event of anything, “they should call us and give us the feedback immediately.”

    To the parents, the D-G also assured parents of the safety of their wards in the schools, adding that adequate measures had been put in place to ensure maximum security and protection of students while they were in the school.

    He told Graphic Online that all classes would be split, of no more than 25 students in a class and all day students in boarding schools would be in boarding, while day schools would have enhanced daily health protocols.

    Additionally, dining will be in batches in the boarding schools.

    “The heads are to make classroom seating arrangements such that students or chairs are at least one metre away from each other.

    “Boarding schools/SHS and TVET dining halls should be kept clean always and attendance to dining halls should be in batches to ensure social distancing, while the tables and benches at the dining halls should be disinfected after each batch”, Prof Opoku-Amankwa said.

    He said the heads were also asked to display the approved health promotion materials on COVID-19 at vantage points on the school compound to remind students to keep to social distancing protocols, wearing of the masks, regular hand washing, coughing, and sneezing etiquette.

    As part of the guidelines, Prof Opoku-Amankwa said heads were also to ensure that the school infirmaries are opened at all times and a full-time nurse should be stationed to provide first aid services.

    “Each boarding school is required to earmark a dormitory (male and female in a mixed school) as potential isolation centre should there be the need to isolate any student.

    “Each school is mapped to a particular health facility to which the school shall report any emergency”, he further added.

    Source: graphic.com.gh

  • Parents must assist children to observe safety protocols – GES

    The Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Kwasi Opoku Amankwa has appealed to parents to assist their children to comply with the necessary protocols outlined by government as they return to school to ensure their safety is not compromised.

    According to him even though government had instituted a lot of measures to ensure the safety of all students, there was the need for parents to compliment these efforts.

    “There is no need for any parent to prevent his or her ward from going to school to prepare and write their final exams. Government has put in place all the necessary measures to safeguard the children and it will be appropriate for parents to compliment this gesture,” he emphasised.

    Speaking to the Ghanaian Times in a telephone conversation, Prof. Amankwa said even though no one could force any parent to send his or her ward to school, it was important that the parents placed the development of the children above all other consideration.

    He said government would not deliberately endanger the lives of the very student it had spent so much on, stressing that as a result, parents must do away with the fear factor and support them in safeguarding the welfare of the children.”

    Source: ghanaiantimes.com.gh

  • Trading activities on GSE increase by 147 percent in May

    Trading activities on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) picked up in May this year despite the bite of the novel Coronavirus on markets and the global economy.

    A summary of May 2020 trading activities released by the GSE said trading activities on the local bourse jumped in May with a 147 percent increase over the trades recorded at the end of April.

    The total volumes of shares traded at the end of May stood at 72,618,971 compared with the 29,372,476 shares recorded at the end of April this year.

    “Total value increased by 114 percent to end May 2020 with GH¢47, GH¢825 million as against GH¢22, 354 million recorded at the end of April 2020,” the GSE said.

    The GSE explained that the daily average value recorded in May was GH¢2, 517 million compared to GH¢1, 117 million recorded in April this year.

    It said the total traded stocks between January and May 2020 was 201,504,907 shares valued at GH¢147, 024,696.05 representing 135 percent and 73 percent respectively over volume and valued traded for the same period in 2019.

    The GSE said the GSE Composite index, at the end of May, recorded a decline of 14.01 percent (YTD) compared to the 8.74 (YTD) recorded at the end of April 2020, adding that that “this was due to selling pressure from investors on the market”.

    It said the top five volumes of stocks traded were MTN Ghana, 188,381,392, Cal Bank, 3,422,624, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, 1,910,027, Ecobank Ghana Limited, 1,389,555 and Aluworks 1,197,862.

    The GSE indicated that the MTN Ghana led the group terms of the top five in terms of the value of stocks traded with 121,630,336.6, EGH with 7,681,211.59, GCB with 5,219,371.46, SCB with 5,084,297.64 and Cal with 2,940,235.26.

    On the Fixed Income Market, the GSE said the volumes of securities traded for the month of May 2020 went down by 298 million from the April 2020 figures of 9,188,273,051.00 and the total volume of 8,889,357,142 securities were traded at a value of GH¢9, 198,499,234.00.

    “The total cumulative trades executed on the Fixed Income Market from January 2020 to the end of May 2020 stands at 40,485,145,499, a 50 percent increase over the same period in 2019 and 73 percent of the entire 2019 trade volume. Liquidity of the market has increased to 32 percent at the end of May from 26 percent in April 2020,” the GSE said.

    It said the top five securities traded in the period under review were the Government of Ghana securities which ranged from two and ten-year bonds.

    For the two-year bond, the GSE said the volume traded was 969,296,001 at an interest rate of 15.78 percent with 1,536 of trades, while the volume traded for the three-year bond was 2,571,258,449 at an interest rate of 13.04 percent which attracted 1,933 trades.

    The GSE said the volume traded for the five-year bond was 1,852,858,846 at an interest rate of 16.08 percent with 1,821 trades and the volume traded for the six-year bond was 741,096,647 at an interest rate of 20.20 with trades of 95 percent and the volume for the 10-year bond was 1,125,352,866 at an interest rate of 20.56 percent with 359 trades.

    Source: ghanaiantimes.com.gh

  • No church services should be held in classrooms – GES warns

    No church services will be held in classrooms, Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa has cautioned Christian religious leaders in the country.

    Following President Akufo-Addo’s ease of restrictions on public gatherings, schools across the country have reopened for final year students and churches are permitted to hold religious services.

    The final year students will have a four-hour lecture as they prepare for their final exams.

    As part of measures to protect them against the novel Coronavirus, all schools will regularly be fumigated and nose masks together with Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) will be distributed to the students and school administrators.

    There is also a normal practice in Ghana where Pastors turn classrooms into churches after schools are closed.

    The GES Director-General says the Pastors are no more invited to use the classrooms because ”if we allow a lot of people to come close to the school children and something happens, it will be difficult to know how it occurred. In a case where the health Professionals want to do tracing, it will be difficult but if the child comes from school to the home, you’ll be able to do the tracing”.

    ”We won’t allow church services in the classrooms”, he stressed in an interview on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’.

    Watch the interview below:

    Source: Peace FM

  • No school should issue prospectus to parents – GES warns

    Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa has warned schools not to issue prospectus to parents and guardians.

    There are reports that some schools after reopening, have issued prospectus to parents of some wards.

    According to Professor Opoku-Amankwa, the Education Service has not authorized any school, particularly public schools, to give prospectus to parents and therefore cautioned the Heads of schools involved in the practice to quickly desist from such acts.

    Speaking in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo”, the GES Director-General said “those schools and heads, they dare not. Nobody has authorized them to do that. You’ll be in trouble should you do such a thing. Nobody has directed any person to issue prospectus”.

    Source: Peace FM

  • GSE Financial Index declines marginally

    The benchmark index shed 60.78 points (-2.89%) following downward price movements in MTN Ghana (-7.58%) and Ecobank Ghana (-0.67%), closing the session at 2,041.96 with a -9.53% year-to-date return while the market capitalization decreased by 1.14% to settle at GH¢54.59 billion.

    Consequently, the GSE Financial Index declined marginally by 2.87 points (-0.15%) to close at 1,873.88 with -7.22% year-to-date return while the SAS Manufacturing Index remained unchanged at 3,192.63 with a -8.30% year-to-date return.

    Trading activity jumped as 9,902,537 shares valued at GH¢6,049,165 changed hands from 19,607 shares valued at GH¢28,513 at the previous session. MTN Ghana dominated trades by volume and value, accounting for 99.92% of the total volume traded and 99.79% of the total value traded.

    We expect trading activity to pick up as investors take advantage of bargain stocks.

    Source: SAS Ghana

  • 18,475 teachers promoted after passing GES aptitude test

    18,475 teachers who sat for the maiden Promotion Aptitude Test on February 20 and 21, 2020, have been promoted.

    The teachers were promoted by the Ghana Education Service (GES) to various grades within the service.

    The positions for which the teaching staff were interviewed were Deputy Director, Assistant Deputy Director I, Assistant Deputy Director II, and Principal Superintendent.

    In the Deputy Director grade, 2,336 candidates took the test, out of which 1,140, representing 48.8 percent, were successful.

    For the Assistant Director, I grade, 7,170 took the test, with 4,709 (65.7 percent) being successful, while 10,860 (59.5 percent) out of the 18,238 candidates who wrote the promotion test for the grade of Assistant Director II passed.

    The Director-General of the GES, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, said for the Principal Superintendent grade, 1,766 candidates, representing 69.6 percent of the 2,536 who wrote the test, were successful.

    He said “Formal promotion letters will be released in due course. Results for the non-teaching staff will also be released soon.”

    Source: pulse.com.gh

  • GES raises red flag on GNACOPS online terminal examinations

    Undoubtedly, the educational sector has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana causing curriculum disruptions. As a result, virtual or e-learning has been adopted by most educational institutions to enable them to complete their academic work.

    Executive Director of the Ghana National Council of Private Schools GNACOPS, Enoch Jetuah, explained the introduction of an online examination platform. He hinted that more than 18,000 students from Private schools nationwide have written their online terminal examinations from Nursery to JHS 2, Mr. Jetuah noted that the platform is disability friendly.

    Reacting to the adoption of online terminal examination by GNACOPS, Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Prof. Opoku Amankwah said the move although laudable leaves much to be desired.

    Speaking to Radio Ghana, Prof. Amankwah said that the priority of the GES is content, practical based learning and assessment and not terminal examination.

    Hence, the introduction of the virtual learning channel on GBC TV dubbed GL TV. This he said will help students in Junior and Senior High Schools to catch up with the curriculum while at home. He also hinted of plans to replicate this on radio soon.

     

    Source: gbcghanaonline.com

  • GES okays use of school facilities for coronavirus fight

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) says it has no objection to the use of school facilities for Covid-19 related activities.

    However, it has directed that all requests in that direction should be routed through its Director General who is then liaise with the National Covid-19 Coordinating Team.

    In a statement signed by the Director General Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, GES says the aim is to ensure effective coordination and monitoring of the use of the facilities by GES and the National Covid-19 Coordinating Team.

    It noted in the statement that it has received several requests from district and regional directors of Education and heads of SHS/TVETs for direction following demands made on them by both regional and district health and security teams to release schools facilities to be used for various activities connected with efforts at fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Source: dailyguidenetwork.com

  • GES directs all schools to suspend all public activities

    The Ghana Education Service (GES), has directed all educational institutions to suspend all public activities such as Speech and Prize Giving days until further directives are given by the Director-General.

    Meanwhile, the Management of the GES in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has developed educational materials on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease for onward distribution and use by all schools.

    The directive which was issued in Accra and signed by Professor Kwesi Opoku-Amankwa, the Director-General, Ghana Education Service, urged all Regional and District Educational Directors to ensure that Heads of Schools made the materials readily available to staff and students.

    It said Educational Directors were also expected to liaise with their respective Regional and District Health Directors to ensure smooth education campaigns in schools.

    It said the comprehensive COVID-19 Guidelines and Administrative Procedures for Schools jointly developed by the GHS and the GES for public awareness campaign in all schools across the country, entailed an introduction and background to the new disease outbreak, including its origin, cause, and the various steps being taking to halt the spread.

    The Guidelines also explained why people should be worried about COVID-19, pointing out that the disease has currently attained a pandemic dimension because it was spreading faster than it had been anticipated by the World Health Organisation (WHO), from the onset, with high death rates, and it was important that people appreciated the situation and act responsibly.

    The Guidelines described the mode of spread of COVID-19 and provided detailed education on the basic etiquettes such as covering of mouth when coughing, sneezing and spitting, and precautionary measures such as maintaining about two meters distance from an infected person.

    It stressed on frequent handwashing with soap under running water or use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers and desisting from touching face, eyes or mouth with contaminated, hands as some preventive measures.

    It also emboldened the various signs and symptoms of the disease, which include fever and tiredness, running nose, cough, sore throat, muscle ache and breathing difficulties.

    The GES, therefore, advised all schools to collaborate with their District Education Offices to among other things, identify and establish a line of communication with the nearest local or district health facility, and also a Point of Contact in these facilities for emergency medical response.

    All school are also to have direct to the School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Coordinator in their districts, and immediately organise a meeting with parents, School Management Committees and other stakeholders to provide sensitization.

    They were to keep large assemblies to a minimum and maintain social distancing, and in boarding schools, institute house-based health awareness meetings, where Hygiene education must be promoted and intensified.

    The GES also advised Heads of schools to immediately refer all symptoms of COVID-19, to a health facility, with follow-ups on the test results by heads of schools, so they could swiftly inform their District Directors of Education for a detailed report on the incident.

    The reports, it said, must contain the name of the school, number of students in the school, in the class, teachers, history of patient’s contact in the school and additional information that would be helpful to the district office.

    It said in case a person was confirmed to be infected with the disease, in a school or any education office, the flow of information shall be from the Heads of schools, or their designee to the district office.

    The information should include the nature of the is tuition and the impact on students, staff and facility where applicable, however in the event, the district received information of an outbreak in its jurisdiction, region or national, that may affect the school, such announcement must be made to the Head of the institutions of their designees.

    The statement said these required close coordination with the GES Headquarters on the next steps, and that the Service would follow closely the advice of the GHS and use its best judgment on school closures, should it become necessary to do so in the interest of public health.

    Source: GNA

  • GES sacks Sawla SHS teacher for allegedly raping student

    A mathematics tutor at Sawla Senior High School has been dismissed by the Ghana Education Service (GES) for allegedly raping one of his female students.

    The dismissal of Ernest Ocloo, 34, and popularly known to his colleagues and the students as ‘OC100’, followed a letter by the directorates of education in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District as well as the Savannah Region, recommending the action.

    The sack letter was signed by the GES Director-General, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa and copied the sector Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, his deputies and directors, including the affected district and school.

    “Mr. Ernest Ocloo has been involved in sexual misconduct with several female students of Sawla Senior High School. He admitted to having sexual intercourse with a female student in the staff common room on the 11th of November, 2019 and claimed it was consensual,” the letter read in part.

    According to the letter, Ernest Ocloo is in the habit of harassing female students in the school following his open admission that he took another female student to pass the night in his room in town but denied they had sex.

    “By recent practice and precedent, such misconduct is punishable with termination of appointment. Management therefore recommends that the appointment of Mr. Ernest Ocloo should be terminated in line with section 63(iii) (b)(vi) page 86 as contained the code of conduct for Teachers and other workers of the Ghana Education Service…

    “It is the expectation of Management that this will act as a deterrence to all staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES) that such conduct will not be countenanced,” the letter cautioned.

    Meanwhile, checks indicate that apart from the Regional Education Directorate, neither the affected tutor, the school nor District Education Directorate received their copies of the letter.

    Background

    Ernest Ocloo reportedly went back to campus after school hours and invited his victim, name withheld, into the school’s staff common room where he allegedly raped her on the floor until she was bleeding.

    He then carried her to the girls’ hostel and abandoned her until her colleagues raised the alarm for help before she was sent to the Sawla Clinic for medicals.

    The teacher was later arrested by officers from the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District Divisional Police Command after some days.

    He was put before the Bole Magistrate Court where he was charged for rape and detained in police custody.

    He was later granted bail waiting for recommendations from the Attorney-General’s Department for the next line of action.

     

    Source: myjoyonline 

  • GES, GHS meet to prevent spread of coronavirus in schools

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) have met Friday, following the reported cases of the novel coronavirus in the country.

    The aim of the joint meeting was to deliberate on and decide measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus in schools

    Some issues discussed in the joint meeting were the finalisation of the content on education material, sensitisation of students and staff and familiarisation of staff with emergency numbers to report suspected cases among students.

    The Director Generals of both the GHS and GES, Program Officer of WASH, GES, Heads of Public Relations of both bodies and other executives were present at the event.

    Both Director Generals have agreed to issues a joint statement soon.

    However,  a more detailed plan of action is yet to be rolled out.

     

    Source: myjoyonline 

  • Monday, 9th March 2020 is not holiday for schools – GES

    The Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, GES has issued a statement to announce that Monday 9th March 2020 is not a holiday for students and teachers.

    The statement further congratulated the students and teachers for their smart turn out at the 63rd Independence day celebration parade held throughout the country.

    According to the statement, it is expected that teachers, pupils and students will take advantage of the weekend to rest and fully refresh themselves to resume academic work on Monday 9th March 2020.

    “Teachers, pupils, students and the general public should, therefore, take note that Monday 9th March 2020 is not a holiday for schools.”

    Changing educational curricula to meet the needs of the modern economy

    President Akufo-Addo has indicated that the government is changing the educational curricula across the country, to meet the needs of the modern economy.

    According to the President, this is aimed at preparing Ghanaian students to equally compete on a global scale.

    The President made this known at the 63rd Independence celebration hosted at the Baba Yara sports stadium in the Ashanti Region, Kumasi today March 6 2020.

    The President outlined achievements the country has chalked in its 63rd years.

    President Akufo-Addo stated that: There are more children in SHS now then we have ever had. We are changing the curricula and focus in education to meet the needs of the modern economy we are making progress…”

    Source: primenewsghana.com

  • ‘Drop the Pre-Tertiary Education Bill now’ – Teacher Unions charge Parliament

    The three Teacher Unions in the Western and Western-North Regions in conjunction with the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEW) have called on the national leadership of Parliament to suspend the Pre-Tertiary Education Bills (2019) currently at the committee level in Parliament.

    According to the Unions, there must be deeper stakeholder consultation before Parliament could go-ahead to pass the bill into law.

    The Unions contended that certain portions of the bills were inimical to policies in education which have the tendency to collapse the structures of the Ghana Education Service (GES).

    The Western Regional Chairman of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Rev. Charles A. Kaku who was flanked by the Regional Chairman of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Justin Nelson, the Regional Secretary of GNAT, Mr. Nicholas Taylor, the Regional Vice-Chairman of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana, and Mr. Emmanuel Kusi, the Regional Industrial Relations Officer of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), told a news conference in Takoradi.

    The Regional Chairman of GNAT reminded the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Parliament to take note of the concerns of the teacher unions before they proceed with the consideration of the bills.

    Rev. Kaku said the teacher unions consider education a key to national development hence any attempt to introduce policies and legislation in the sector must engage teachers as major stakeholders.

    Chanting “twoboi” to register their displeasure with the bills, the GNAT Chairman said the bill as it currently stands seeks to cede the effective responsibility for the provision and management of basic schools to the District Assemblies.

    It also seeks to cede the management of the Senior High Schools to the Regional Education Directorate (Regional Coordinating Council) with Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) to be managed by their own Director-General independent of the Ghana Education Service.

    Rev. Kaku wondered whether there was going to be situations where each District Assembly was going to pay their own teachers and the capacity of various District Assemblies to shoulder this responsibility.

    He warned that if the bill is allowed to go through in its current state, it has the tendency to break the unified educational arrangement.

    He added that if the bill is allowed to go through in its current state, it has the tendency to break the unified educational arrangement we have now and also has the potential of distorting the unified condition of service as the various MMDCEs will develop their independent condition of service which may not be in the best interest of their members.

    Under section 31 of the bill, the Head of Local Government Service would be appointing Heads and Staff of the District Education unit as well as be responsible for promotion, transfer, discipline and dismissal of the staff of the District Education Unit.

    He said the position of the Unions is that the country is already politically polarized and again any party that comes to power would like to have their party sympathizers occupy positions even when they are not the most qualified people which opens the floodgate to perpetual politicization of appointment of heads of schools.

    Rev. Kaku cited section 32 (3 of the bill which stipulates that the District Officer in charge of the Education unit can only grant transfer to a headteacher or a staff of a basic school within the same District.

    The Unions, therefore, demanded an answer from government whether teachers are now going to be restricted to a District and can no longer get transferred to other Districts and Regions.

    The bill also states that inter-District transfer of a Headteacher or a staff of a basic school can only be undertaken by the Head of the Local Government Services under section 32 (4) of the bill.

    Under the bill, the President of the Republic shall be appointing Regional Directors and their Deputies and determine their terms and conditions of service under section 25 (2) and section 26 (2) of the bill.

    The preparation, administration and control of budgetary allocations of the basic schools shall be determined by the District Assemblies under section 30 (1c) of the bill.

    The bill also states under section 36 (1) that teachers employed in basic schools are on the coming into force of this act, transferred to the Local Government Service.

    The teachers are therefore asking whether basic school teachers are going to be civil servants or public servants and the fate of Senior High School teachers whether they will be placed in the Regional Coordinating Councils.

    From the foregoing, the teacher unions are of the view that the bill will be dangerous to the teaching profession with the tendency of destroying the very fabric of the management arrangement of Ghana Education Service in the country.

    At the solidarity conference, the teachers were resolved to resist the passage of the bill with all our legitimate might and strength as teachers to preserve the unified teaching profession at the pre-tertiary level.

    “We have cautioned and still cautioning that should our concerns and inputs be disregarded or ignored, we the pre-tertiary education teacher unions would advise ourselves accordingly”, they warned.

    Source: Daniel Kaku, Contributor

  • Cancel teacher promotion exams to save your image – Africa Education Watch tells GES

    The African Education Watch is calling for the cancellation of the teachers’ promotion examination conducted on February 20 and 21 2020 following the alleged leakage of the examination questions.

    According to the group, the leakage has compromised the integrity of the promotional system and as a result, the examination must be cancelled and rewritten.

    Speaking on Starr FM today, the Executive Director of Africa Watch Kofi Asare said the GES must re-conduct another promotional test that has the credibility to save their image.

    ”Our concern is that first of all the GES is the biggest public institution in Ghana and it is striving for excellence and one of its mantra is to have a highly professional teaching service. Now if you want to high professional teaching service you need to make sure your promotional system are of integrity.”

    “The current situation where teacher promotional exams leak 48 hours prior to the examination cannot have integrity. So, the GES has to cancel the exams and rewrite it to save its own image and enhance the professional image of teachers and also the integrity of services of the promotional system”.

    African Education Watch also called on the Ministry of Education to investigate the circumstances leading to the wide public leakage of the tests conducted by the Institute of Education Planning and Administration of the UCC, for the GES and make its findings public.

    The Education Service announced the first-ever aptitude test for staff promotion which was to replace the hitherto face-to-face interview sessions that were fraught with multiple challenges.

    The Director-General of the GES, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, in an earlier interview said the new promotion process was being introduced to ensure that the about 35,000 GES staff applied for promotion every year went through the process fairly, transparently and based on competence.

    February 20-21 were dates scheduled for the promotion aptitude test of qualified staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES). GES staff participated in the two-day promotion test at 48 centres throughout the country.

    But it emerged from media reports that questions for the examinations set by the Ghana Education Service (GES) as well as the answers for promotion of teachers leaked hours to the examinations.

    Source: primenewsghana.com

  • GES issues stern warning to students involved in sex scandal

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has described as distasteful recent sex scandals involving some Ghanaian female second-cycle students, which had gone viral on social media.

    “We unreservedly condemn such acts as they contravened the norms and values of the Ghanaian society,” Mr. Anthony Boateng, Deputy Director-General, GES, noted.

    The authorities, he said, had taken a serious view of the issue and observed that most, unfortunately, majority of such acts involved female students.

    “The GES would not countenance such humiliating acts. Surely, the authorities would crack the whip as and when necessary,” he told participants at the 75th-anniversary celebration of the Effiduase Senior High Commercial School (EFFISCO), Effiduase, in the Sekyere-East District of the Ashanti Region.

    Mr. Boateng advised authorities of second-cycle institutions to as a matter of urgency, strengthen their guidance and counseling units, to be able to perform their duties efficiently, especially in the area of sensitizing students to conform to societal norms in their behaviour.

    “Sometimes, some of these disgraceful practices are done out of ignorance and peer pressure,” the GES Deputy Director-General noted.

    Commenting on the recent directive to restrict the payment of Parent-Teacher-Association (PTA) dues and levies, he said the authorities would not back down on its resolve in spite of pleas from certain quarters.

    “We will resist any attempt to go back to the old ways because it is the responsibility of the PTA to explore innovative ways of securing funds for their projects,” Mr. Boateng insisted.

    “The lack of PTA dues and levies should not be a barrier to finding innovative ways to fund school projects,” he remarked.

     

    Source: GNA

  • Wa GES Director dies a day after taking over from interdicted Regional Director

    The Wa Municipal Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Theresa Ninang Sung-Abo, who was announced by the GES on Thursday, 13 February 2020 as the interim Regional Director following the interdiction of the substantive Regional Director, Mr Duncan Nsor, has died.

    Mr Nsor was interdicted by the Ghana Education Service (GES) for misconduct while investigations are conducted into his action.

    He is alleged to have engaged in acts of corruption.

    Mr Nsor was asked to step aside for investigations into allegations of bribery in the appointment of heads of some second-cycle schools in the region.

    The Wa Municipal Director of Education will assume temporary responsibility for education in the region.

    Specific allegations

    1. Circumstances surrounding the auctioning of a truck belonging to the Wa School for the Deaf, which vehicle, at the time of the auctioning, was under his care; and his refusal to inform the school and the Director-General of the development;

    2. Allegations of bribery in the appointment of some heads of some second-cycle schools in the region; and

    3. Alleged deduction of monies from some allowances due to some teachers in the region.

    Source: classfmonline.com

  • Wa GES Director dies a day after taking over from interdicted Regional Director

    The Wa Municipal Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Theresa Ninang Sung-Abo, who was announced by the GES on Thursday, 13 February 2020 as the interim Regional Director following the interdiction of the substantive Regional Director, Mr Duncan Nsor, has died.

    Mr Nsor was interdicted by the Ghana Education Service (GES) for misconduct while investigations are conducted into his action.

    He is alleged to have engaged in acts of corruption.

    Mr Nsor was asked to step aside for investigations into allegations of bribery in the appointment of heads of some second-cycle schools in the region.

    The Wa Municipal Director of Education will assume temporary responsibility for education in the region.

    Specific allegations

    1. Circumstances surrounding the auctioning of a truck belonging to the Wa School for the Deaf, which vehicle, at the time of the auctioning, was under his care; and his refusal to inform the school and the Director-General of the development;

    2. Allegations of bribery in the appointment of some heads of some second-cycle schools in the region; and

    3. Alleged deduction of monies from some allowances due to some teachers in the region.

    Source: classfmonline.com

  • Regional Director of GES interdicted

    The Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa has interdicted the Upper West Regional Director of Education, Duncan Nsor.

    A letter addressed to him dated 12th February 2020 said the interdiction takes place with “immediate effect”.

    This is to enable the Service to carry out investigations into a number of allegations levelled against him including bribery.

    “Your interdiction is to facilitate investigations into some allegations levelled against you, which include;

    “1. Circumstances surrounding the auctioning of a track belonging to Wa School for the Deaf, which vehicle at the time of the auctioning was under your care and your refusal to inform the school and the Director-General of the development.

    “2. Allegations of bribery in the appointment of some Heads of some second cycle schools in the Region.

    “3. Alleged deduction of monies from some allowances due to some teachers in the region.”

    Mr. Nsor has been ordered to hand-over the office to the Wa Municipal Director of Education, who has been directed to take temporal responsibility for the Region during the period of the interdiction.

    The interdicted director is expected to appear before an investigation committee being set up by the Director-General of GES.

    “It is expected that you will co-operate fully in this exercise,” the letter copied to other stakeholders said.

     

    Source: 3news.com

  • Ejisu residents unhappy about multiple sex scandals at Ejisuman SHS

    Residents of Ejisu are calling for strict disciplinary measures to tackle indiscipline among students and teachers at Ejisuman Senior High School.

    They say wanton misconduct has brought untold shame to the school and the Ejisu state in general.

    The school has been hit, at least, by two sex-related scandals in the last two years.

    The concerns come as school authorities expelled seven students from boarding house over the contents of an explicit sex video that has gone viral on social media platforms.

    Ejisuman SHS came under the spotlight two years ago after eight female students broke their silence and accused teachers of sexually abusing them after a leaked video went viral.

    They accused the teachers of making advances at them to the extent some being forced to stroke the manhood of their teachers.

    The Ghana Education Service upon investigations dismissed three teachers and a non-teaching staff who was an accountant, while four others were transferred.

    Recently, some female students in yet another viral video, has put the school’s name in the news again.

    They justified having multiple sexual partners and condemned girls who refuse to have sex with men in the latest viral video.

    One of them is seen encouraging other girls to sleep with men for monetary reward.

    Unhappy about the conduct of the students, school authorities have expelled them from the boarding houses.

    Residents have condemned the behaviour of students and teachers who bring the name of the school and community into disrepute.

    Ejisu is not only home to powerful but revered bravery queen mother, Yaa Asantewaa but one of the respected oldest traditional towns headed by the  Paramount chief, Oguakuro Afrane Okesse IV.

    “Nowadays, the way and manner things are going at Ejisuman is becoming unbecoming. Looking at issues concerning indiscipline in the school, as a good citizen, I will urge the school authorities to put measures in place and sanction those who exhibit such behaviours so that no one will go and do same to tarnish the name of the school,” says Frank Nkrumah, a resident.

    According to him, the sex-related scandals in the school have made him and other natives of Ejisu a laughing stock among their peers.

    “The developments at Ejisuman SHS are not only affecting the school alone but the entire Ejisuman state.

    “If you go to Accra, we have a lot of friends. They will call you and ask my friend what’s going on there. And then they would be laughing and teasing you because the school in your community, a lot of bad things are going on there”.

    Kwabena Adu, a taxi driver is equally worried over the development as well.

    “I am concerned about Ejisuman. Ejisuman is one of the big schools in Ejisu. When you hear about these kinds of things; children making such comments on social media, we become worried. We are really worried about such situations.”

    The Ejisu Traditional Council made up of over 50 towns, is equally not happy at the developments.

    Meanwhile, the Ghana Education Service has declined comments until it exhausts all available disciplinary avenues.

     

    Source: myjoyonline 

  • GES revises promotion process for staff

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has revised its promotion processes, with the aim to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

    The management of the GES said all staff of the service due for promotion would now undergo an aptitude test for all ranks from Principal Superintendent to Deputy Director.

    “Officers who get promoted to deputy directorship shall be expected to attend face-to-face interviews if they desire to become heads of schools or any other position that may require interviewing,” the Director-General of the GES, Professor Opoku-Amankwa, told the Daily Graphic in an interview in Accra yesterday.

    He said the review had been done after extensive deliberations and consultations with key stakeholders, with the approval of the GES Council and in accordance with regulations of the Public Services Commission (PSC).

    GES summons Peki SHS headmaster, store keeper

    Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said the new promotion process was being introduced for a good reason — to ensure that the about 35,000 GES staff who applied for promotion every year went through the process fairly, transparently and based on competence.

    The switch to aptitude tests for promotion has been necessitated by the tonnes of petitions the GES receives every year from teachers alleging that the performance appraisals and interviews used for promotions are fraught with victimisation and corruption.

    Applicants for 2019

    Last year, 47,323 applicants submitted documentation for promotion, the director-general disclosed, adding that the applicants were yet to attend interviews in that regard.

    He gave the breakdown as follows: 4,413 for the rank of Deputy Director, 10,724 for Assistant Director I, 26,876 for Assistant Director II, 3,816 for Principal Superintendent, while 1,494 applied for non-teaching ranks.

    He said every year, “the GES sets up about 150 panels across the country, with each panel having five members”.

    Each panel interviewed eight people a day, according to PSC regulations, and they worked for three to six months to finish up all applicants, he added.

    Petitions

    “Meanwhile, every year, the GES receives almost a thousand petitions on promotions, all levelled against GES staff in the district, regional and national headquarters, as well as interview panels across the country,” he said.

    Oti, Volta teachers fume over GHS120 stipend for GES workshop

    Prof. Opoku-Amankwa explained that the petitions included allegations of victimisation and corruption, explaining that apart from the complaints, the process was tedious and expensive.

    “Based on these and many other reasons, the GES management, in June last year, initiated the move to reform the promotion process within the confines of PSC guidelines.

    “The details and input into the new process have been agreed on with teacher unions and accepted by the GES Council,” he added.

    He said the management had done extensive education and sent out announcements on the new promotion process, “which have been received and accepted in good faith”.

    He said the least opportunity he had with teachers, he touched on the subject, adding: “Recently, we did training for SHS core teachers and I used the opportunity of my visit to talk to them about the new promotion process and they agreed.”

    The GES intended to do a road show from the first week of next month to educate and inform teachers on the details of the new process, he hinted.

    “The areas where questions will be generated are the same areas they prepare on for the interviews and the proposed examination is between 45 and 60 minutes for each rank,” Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said.

    Areas of aptitude test

    The director-general said, for instance, that the aptitude test for those seeking promotion to the ranks of Principal Superintendent, Assistant Director I and II would cover knowledge of the ministry and the GES, school/classroom management, theories of learning, assessing and evaluation, contemporary issues in education, as well as current and general knowledge.

    He said those applying for the rank of Deputy Director would, “in addition to the above, be tested in education administration and management”, explaining that those areas were the same as those used in promotion.

    Prof. Opoku-Amankwa hinted that the examination was fixed for February 20 and 21 and that the results should be ready by the end of March this year.

    Source: Graphic.com.gh

  • Oti, Volta teachers fume over GHS120 stipend for GES workshop

    Teachers from the Oti and Volta regions who attended the four-day workshop organised by the Ghana Education Service (GES) at the University of Ghana are demanding explanations for their poor treatment by the service.

    They are part of the over 2,000 teachers who were left stranded at the university on Monday for what was meant to be day one of the workshop.

    After completing the workshop, the teachers are now lamenting over stipends that were given them by the service.

    One of them who spoke to Citi News said: “[the teachers from] Dodowa, Legon, etc; those people have been given GHS100. Then somebody coming from the Volta Region is given GHS120. The question is what goes into determining the amount?”

    BoG urges Police to help identify hidden unlicensed financial institutions

    “Someone from Hohoe was asked to take GHS120. Someone from Haatso where you can even walk to the house took GHS100. Is it fair?” another angry teacher questioned.

    The GES has already been compelled to apologise for the poor treatment some teachers taking part in a four-day workshop have endured.

    Complaints started on Monday when hundreds of teachers from three regions vented their anger at the service over their treatment at the venue for the workshop.

    GES apologises for treating SHS teachers poorly

    Form 3 Core Subject teachers from the Greater Accra, Oti and Volta regions are taking part in the workshop.

    Similar complaints from 2019

    There were similar complaints in August 2019 when basic school teachers were angry with the GES over a GHS50 offered them after a five-day training workshop on the new curriculum for basic schools.

    The GES subsequently disbursed a further transportation allowance of GHS50 per person to participants of the training programme.

    Source: citinewsroom.com

  • Teachers to undergo aptitude test before promotion GES

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has announced teachers in the country will now undergo aptitude test before they get promoted.

    According to a statement by the GES, the move is to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the promotion process.

    Other categories of teachers will undergo interviews and the aptitude test before promotions.

    The statement also said key stakeholders have been informed of the move.

  • New JHS uniforms not compulsory GES

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has dismissed reports that it has contracted a foreign firm to design the new school uniforms to be used in junior high schools from the 2019/2020 academic year.

    It said, “it has not imported, neither, has it contracted any individual, locally or internationally to bring in a new uniform for the Junior high schools”.

    Earlier this year, the Service announced that new uniforms will be donned by pupils, scrapping the existing one which has been in place for more than three decades.

    A statement signed by the Head of Public Relations at GES, Cassandra Twum Ampofo, said the Director-General in April, while introducing the new uniforms, made it clear that parents are to access them from the open market.

    Textile workers condemn Napo over new school uniform claim

    It also stressed that the uniforms will not be compulsory as there is a plan to phase them out over a period.

    “No student will be prevented from attending school when the 2019/2020 academic year begins in September.”

    The uniforms were introduced as part of reforms of the education sector.

    GES Director-General Professor Kwasi Opoku Amankwa had insisted that the move was to make the pupils “to start seeing themselves as secondary school students; they are in lower secondary”.

    Source: 3news.com

  • Return to the classroom or lose your salaries NLC orders Teachers

    The National Labour Commission has declared the strike by the three Teacher Unions as illegal and has ordered them to return to the classroom.

    Several pupils and students in public primaries and senior high schools have been without teachers since Monday when members of the National Association of Graduate Teachers(NAGRAT), Ghana National Association of Teachers(GNAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers(CCT) laid down their tools.

    Read: Ignore your leaders, go to work GES board chair to teachers

    The industrial action is to pile pressure on government to pay legacy arrears accrued between 2012 and 2016.

    Speaking to Starr News, the Executive Secretary of the Labour Commission, Ofosu Asamoah said the teachers risk losing their salaries if they remain on strike.

    Read: Please return to the classrooms PTA begs teachers

    “The NLC finds the conduct of the three teacher unions not in conformity with the law because procedurally they did not comply with what the law provides in the declaration of a strike and therefore it is illegal. They have been directed by the Commission to go back to call off the strike and go back to the classroom while the GES works to pay whoever the arrears is due.”

    He said if the teachers fail to comply with the directive “the law will take its course. Illegal strikes are not paid for by the government, so illegal striking workers will not be paid.”

     

    Source: Kasapafmonline.com

  • GES shocked by ‘illegitimate’ Teacher Unions strike

    The Ghana Education Service is shocked by the decision of three Teacher Unions to embark on a strike over the non-payment of salary arrears.

    The three Unions - Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT-GH) – declared the strike action which will take effect on Monday, December 9 following a series of engagements with the government on Legacy Arrears incurred between 2012 and 2016.

    Read: GNAT, NAGRAT, CCT declare strike over delay in releasing their arrears

    In the jointly signed statement, the Unions say the lack of adherence on the part of the government to these demands has necessitated the December 9 action.

    They, therefore, directed all members to stay out of classrooms across the country in protests of the “sufferings” endured “as a result of the negligence.”

    But the GES in a statement copied to Joy News explained that the Legacy Arrears relate to outstanding salary arrears between 2012 and 2016 and affected about 120,232 staff of the Service.

    “The Legacy Arrears was as a result of the policy by the then government which allowed the payment of three months of salary arrears owed any employee in the Public Service. All other arrears were to be justified and validated by the Audit Service before payment.

    Read: Workers of Meridian Port Services on strike

    “Since 2017, the current government has taken deliberate actions to pay off the arrears due to those who deserve them. It is significant to note that as of September 2019, about 87,556 staff of GES had been paid their full salary arrears, representing 95% of total staff validated for payment,” the statement said.

    GES also noted that since then further actions have been taken to pay the arrears and at a meeting with the Teacher Unions on December 2, some agreements were reached.

    “It is therefore with utmost shock that Management has learnt of the purported declaration of the strike action and states that the conduct of the Union leaders is grossly an abuse of the principle of good faith and good working relations which have been established and nurtured over the years.”

    Read the full statement below:

     

    Source: myjoyonline 

  • GES releases appointment letters for teachers

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has released appointment letters for teachers who applied for recruitment into the service.

    According to the GES, the latest recruitment is targeted at persons who have completed and passed the College of Education exams in 2018 and have also passed their licensure exams in 2018/ 2019.

    Read: GES recruits 14,500 teachers

    A statement issued by the GES on Wednesday also mentioned persons who have completed mandatory notional service and have applied for recruitment into the Service are those being considered for the appointment.

    “The appointment letters have been released. Appointment letters can be accessed on www.gespromotions.gov.gh (fees apply),” the press release noted.

    Appointees have therefore been asked to report to the Regional Directors with their appointment letters and certificates for further directives.

     

    Source: 3news.com

  • GES gives approval for extension of mid-semester break

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has given approval for the extension of the mid-semester break, from November 12, 2019 to November 15, 2019.

    Students are therefore expected to return to school over the weekend to ensure, that full academic work resumes on Monday, November 18, 2019.

    A release signed by Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, Director-General of the GES and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the approval was upon a request from the leadership of Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS).

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    It said the directive equally applied to all SHS one and two students on the Gold Track, who were expected to report to school on November 12, 2019.

    The release said Regional Directors were by the directive to ensure, that all heads of SHS across the country, prepare their schools for academic work to resume on November 18, 2019.

    Source: ghananewsagency.org

  • 2018 trained teachers to be posted by November GES

    Trained teachers who completed in 2018 from the Colleges of Education will be posted to the classrooms to begin work by the end of November 2019 the Ghana Education Service (GES) has announced.

    2018 trained teachers to be posted by November GES

    The eligible candidates are those who passed the Teacher Licensure Examinations and have completed their national service.

    The GES in a statement also said university graduates with Basic Education and Early Childhood certificates who have passed the Licensure Examinations and completed national service will be considered for employment as well.

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    The GES has cautioned the teachers not to pay any money to anybody who promise to facilitate their posting process.

    Source: classfmonline.com

  • 2018 trained teachers to be posted by November – GES

    The Ghana Education Service says it has commenced the process of posting teachers who completed Colleges of Education in 2018.

    Only trainees who have written and passed the Teacher Licensure Examination, and are completing their National Service are eligible.

    “Candidates who duly applied online will be shortlisted and postings effected by the end of November 2019,” the GES said in a statement on Tuesday.

    Read: GES releases teacher postings

    “We also wish to state that there will be consideration for university graduates with Basic Education and Early Childhood certificates who have passed the Licensure Examinations and completed National Service as well,” the statement added.

    The GES cautioned trainees against paying monies to persons who promise to facilitate their posting process.

    The Licensure Exams

    The trainee teachers resisted the licensing policy when it was being introduced.

    Trainees in Koforidua who were part of the 2018 completing class demonstrated in the Eastern regional capital, demanding that the policy not start with them.

    The National Teaching Council (NTC) however, rejected their demands.

    The council said the target group had a choice to either participate in the process or exempt themselves.

    Executive Secretary of the Council, Dr Evelyn Oduro denied claims that government was rushing the implementation of the policy. On the contrary, she said teachers have been given ample time to prepare for the licensing regime.

    National Service

    Again, the trainees resisted when the government said they had to go through the National Service programme.

    According to them, it is uncomprehensive why the government will ask them to do national service while they have already undergone a one-year teaching service without pay.

    Read: Teachers exposed Education Minister on CSE John Jinapor

    The trainees told JoyNews during a protest march in Accra that, the government promised to post them once they have undergone the licensure exams.

    The Education Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, however, told them they would undertake the national service if they wanted to gain employment.

    “Everybody who has gone through the tertiary system does national service so you are going to do it…and if you do not do it, you do not get employed…so you are going to do it,” Dr. Opoku Prempeh added.

     

    Source: Myjoyonline.com

  • GES releases teacher postings

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has released the postings for teachers who have returned from their study leave.

    Those teachers who were on leave with pay are supposed to log-on to http://gespromotions.gov.gh, to access their various postings.

    A release, signed by Mrs Adwoa Van-Vicker the Director for Human Resource and copied to the Ghana News Agency, directed them to pay GHS10.00 through a known MTN mobile money account.

    They are supposed to print their postings details and then submit them to their regional directors in the respective regions of their new postings, the release said.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • GES sets requirements for recruitment of new teachers

    The Ghana Education Service (GES) has set requirement guidelines to recruit qualified newly trained teachers for the 2019/2020 academic year.

    Per the guidelines, candidates who wish to be considered for employment as teachers under the GES should have completed and passed the final-year College of Education Examination.

    Additionally, the candidates must have completed the mandatory national service and passed the Teacher Licensure Examination.

    GES begins students placement into SHS

    Such candidates should be prepared and ready to work wherever they will be posted by the GES.

    Graduates

    A release signed and issued by the Director of the Human Resource Management Division (HRMD) of the GES, Mrs Adjoa Van Vicker, stated that “persons who do not meet all four stated requirements will not be shortlisted”.

    In addition, it said there were limited vacancies for graduates with Early Childhood/Basic Education qualification who met the requirements for consideration.

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    Application forms

    Qualified candidates, the statement said, should complete an application form and upload the relevant certificates on www.gespromotions.gov.gh

    It said qualified candidates had until September 15, 2019 to submit their application forms.

    Source: ghanaguardian.com