The TRUE STATE of GES MUNICIPAL or DISTRICT OFFICES in Ghana Today

Municipal/District Directors of Education in Ghana have been reduced to common ‘beggars’ to be able to run the day-to-day management of their offices. It’s a shame that the same structures that raised the very people in authority in terms of governance of the country has been neglected.

1. OFFICE ACCESSORIES
Just pay a working visit to the Director at his/her office and look at the chair he/she works with. Some, through their MPs effort or begging from other philanthropist, have been able to get good chairs for their work.
I can’t remember the last time any government in power supplied computers and it accessories to the office. These offices are being forced to work with some old lady computers whose date of manufacture can’t be traced. Some even don’t have it at all forcing the officers in charge to use their own laptops or whatever for official work.

2. VEHICLES

Some Directors are sitting in ‘walking coffins’. Vehicles with ‘Q’ registration numbers which have suffered lack of maintenance for years are what the official vehicles available. Some Directors run to either the Senior High Schools in their district or the district assembly for vehicles before they could attend programmes.

3. FIXTURES AND FITTINGS.
Municipal/District Directors of Education can’t even afford items like bulbs, photocopiers, printers, tonners, padlocks/door locks, toiletries, mobs, machetes for labourers, touch light for security men, rain coat,etc because of no money syndrome.

4. AUTOCRACY
municipal/District Directors are being run on ‘autopilot’. Letters and  information that gets to them are only for instructions. They are no longer stakeholders for decision making.

5. POLITICAL INTERFERENCE
One can’t understand why the MPs common fund for Education is not released to the Municipal/District Directors of Education to run the administration. Most of the MPs don’t care about Education at all in their constituencies. With a political threat on Directors, that common fund is taken from the office for their personal use.

6. STATIONERY.

Indeed, it is sometimes sad to note that Directors beg for common A4 sheet to work with. In some cases, teachers have to run back to the nearest place to make copies of documents and submit the originals back to the office.

7. T & T FOR ACTIVITY COORDINATORS, GENERAL OFFICE WORK AND FUEL FOR DIRECTOR.
Activity coordinators such as girl child, SHEP, Exams, Basic school etc are all not operating because of lack of funds. Directors find it difficult to move because of fuel and vehicle breakdowns.

Generally, it must be understood by the stakeholders of education that the standard of education in the country is going down not because teachers are not teaching, but the directorate control is lost. Directors have no respect again because they are ‘beggars’