Choicenewsonline Your Choice Is Here
Ghana as a nation, has very fine laws, that have the capacity to ensure good governance. The governance structure of our Public sector agencies, have been well taken care of in our law books.
The Ghana Education Service as an allied agency in charge of Public sector pre-tertiary education under the Ministry of Education, is no exception.
The appointment of the Director General, who is the overall superintendent officer, should be done tactfully to bring harmony, innovation and progress into the service.
The Director General of GES should be a respectable leader in Education, from whom the rank and file of the service could take inspiration and motivation.
On Monday, 17th October, 2022 the President of the Republic of Ghana, through the Ministry of Education terminated the appointment of Professor Opoku Amankwah as the Director General of GES.
This termination brought to bear, the urgency to find a replacement.
It was the expectation of the Education fraternity that, an astute Educationist with a good track record of experience, leadership and innovation would be scouted for within the corridors of education, to take over the vacant position.
The President’s appointment of Dr. Eric Nkansah as the substantive Director General of GES, has aroused many reactions from relevant stakeholders in education.
The choice of a banker, as the Director General of the Ghana Education Service, has not only fallen so short of people’s expectations, but is also a violation of our professional education standards.
It is a total contravention of the Teacher Professionalism as far as the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 ( Act 1023) is concerned.
The appointment is in breach of section 67(1), 68(1,&1a) and 79 (1) of Education Regulatory Bodies Act , 2020 Act 1023.
The Ghana National Council of Private Schools(GNACOPS), as an upholder of good standards in education, does not support this appointment.
It is no secret that there are ranks or levels in every sector, through which employees should pass, before being promoted to managerial positions.
Why should Educationists spend their lives in service to GES, go through promotions and ranks, if a banker could overnight become their Director General?
GNACOPS strongly proposes that the appointment system of the Director General of GES, should be looked at carefully from the service view point, and be restricted to only Professional within the Education sector.
It should be based on projectory experience, qualification and skills, with rank & longevity in the service, being made the heart of the appointment, similar to what is done in the Police Service, in the appointment of IGP.
The government and for that matter, the Ministry of Education must with immediate effect, take steps to correct this situation and salvage the professionalism in our Education which has been subjected to public ridicule by this appointment.
