The Yendi Municipal Assembly and the Ghana Education Service have put in plans to revamp the District Education Oversight Committee (DEOC) in the area to raise the fallen standards of education in the area due to a number of problems, particularly the teacher absenteeism.

The Yendi Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Issah Zakaria announced this when he briefed 204 Head teachers and 16 Circuit supervisors drawn from Yendi and Mion District at a meeting on Improving Management Supervision, Monitoring and Accountability in Public Basic Schools Nationwide.

Mr Zakaria indicated that recently, all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives met the Minister for Education Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Deputy Minister for Tertiary Education and Chief Director at Kumasi on the issue of improving education standards nationwide.

He said the Yendi Municipal Assembly and the Ghana Education Service would intensify visits to schools to ensure that teacher absenteeism in schools in the municipality were minimised or completely eradicated.

He stated that the Ministry of Education was trying to liaise with the Universities to see how teachers could go about their sandwich courses because about 70 per cent of teachers were doing the sandwich courses.

He said the fallen standards of education in the area were serious and as chairman of DEOC he would join the supervision teams in visiting the schools to ensure that the teaching and learning was improved.

Mr Zakaria said any headteacher who was not performing would be sent back to the classroom to teach and give way to qualified head teachers who were serious to take over.

He said head teachers who were conniving with teachers to use school hours to do business would be sanctioned when caught.

He reminded them that the District Education Oversight Committee was the highest body responsible for the promotion of education at the basic and senior levels in the district as enshrined in 2007 Education Reforms (ERP) and all plans were made to revamp it.

Mr Zakaria noted that as they continued to ask for more salaries it should go with hard work and responsibility.

Mr Zakaria announced that very soon the Assembly would reverse the Best Teacher Award in the Municipality to ensure that hard working teachers were motivated.

An Assistant Director of Education, Alhaji Mahama Shamrock assured the Assembly that the Yendi Municipal Education Service has good head teachers who were working hard to improve on the standards of education in the Municipality.

The Yendi Municipal Coordinating Director Mr Sarfo Kantanka, who accompanied the MCE said he was grateful for the behaviour of the head teachers during the meeting.

GNA