B/A teachers angry

• Over delayed promotion

STORY: FROM MICHAEL SARPONG MFUM, SUNYANI B/A
A number of teachers in the Brong Ahafo Region have raised eye-brows over what they consider the continual delay of the Ministry of Education in promoting them to higher ranks in the teaching profession.

According to the teachers, the protracted delay in putting them on the right higher ranks is seriously affecting their output.

“The lack of motivation from above is seriously affecting our performances in the classrooms as well feel we are not being appreciated by the powers-that-be,” a teacher said.

When Today checked at the Sunyani Municipal Education Office and other education offices in the Brong Ahafo Region, officials confirmed that the promotion of the teachers is pending and that they have submitted documents on it to the Education office.

According to a source at the office, the documents have been forwarded to the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department for their perusal, but that was over a year ago.

That notwithstanding, Today understands, there has been a refusal on the part of the teachers’ authorities to promote the teachers as stated in the service conditions of the teaching profession.

According to the teachers, not even Certificate ‘A’ teachers, who have obtained top-up diploma or completed the university, have been promoted to the right rank.

A case in point is Mr. Charles Osei, a teacher in one of the public schools in the region.
He seized the opportunity to appeal to the Minister of Education, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu, and the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to use their high offices to draw the attention of the Controller and Accountants General Department to their promotion documents.

He said: “I completed the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in 2009 and have filled the necessary documents for promotion to the rank of Principal Superintendent, but I have not been promoted yet.
“I am therefore appealing to the GES to do something about my situation,” he said.

DANGER LOOMS ON OTI RIVER 

*As boats overload; and lack life jackets

STORY: FROM MICHAEL SARPONG MFUM, DAMBAI V/R

Thousands of passengers who travel on the Oti River stand the risk of losing their lives if steps are not taken to ensure that boats plying the course observe the required safety measures in water transport.

A recent visit to Dambai by Today revealed that boats on the river have thrown caution to the wind as they continue to overload and do not provide passengers with life jackets necessary to ensure their safety on the river.

Accounting for about 40% of the volume of water in the Volta Lake, the Oti River, which flows from plains in Burkina Faso, and forms part of the international boundaries between Benin and Burkina Faso and between Togo and Ghana, is the major means of transportation for the people in the Northern, Volta and Eastern Regions.

Though navy personnel have been deplored to the Krachi East and West Districts to check the boat operators from overloading, none of the personnel was seen on sight when this reporter visited as boat operators continuously overload.

Taking advantage of the absence of the security personnel in the region, boat operators were seen overloading their boats.

The situation, Today was reliably informed, gets worst especially on Tuesdays when people from the length and breadth of the country go to trade at Dambai.

“My brother, it is very serious on Tuesdays, you just can’t believe your eyes when you see boats over loading,…the only thing you can do is to pray for them as there is no one to check on them,” a disturbed resident told our reporter.

However, the situation was different at Kete Krachi, where boat operators there turn to provide enough life jackets for passengers who cross to Kejeji in the Brong Ahafo Region.

Attempts to speak to boat operators and owners however proved futile as they refused to talk openly on the issue.

When contacted on the matter, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Krachi East, Hon. Raphael Kofi Ogyemoko, said plans were far advanced to help boat operators in Dambai and its environs get life jackets to ensure safety during their work.

“We currently have in our possession some life jackets which we are going to give to the boat operators. We have therefore asked the boat operators to register with the Assembly because we do not want to give the life jackets to anybody; I believe this will go a long way to save lives and property,” he noted.