TEACHERS URGED TO SET GOOD EXAMPLES (PAGE 11, JAN 26)

THE Tain District Director of Education, Mr Francis Dongbetigre, has appealed to teachers in the district to endeavour to live above reproach and discharge their duties conscientiously to help uplift the standard of education in the area.
He said bad habits such as alcoholism, absenteeism, befriending teenage schoolgirls and many other anti-social behaviours exhibited by some teachers continued to cast a slur on the good image of the noble profession.
He made the call at the inauguration of the St Peter’s Catholic Teachers Association at Seikwa in the Tain District of the Brong Ahafo Region.
He stressed the need for teachers to emulate Christ, who exhibited true dedication to duty as a distinctive teacher, saying, “As Catholic teachers, you should be shining examples for others to emulate.”
He lamented the extent to which parental control had deteriorated in the district; a situation which had contributed to the fallen standards of teaching and learning in schools.
“If parents and guardians neglect their duties, there will be no way for the children to produce the desired results, since education is a shared responsibility among teachers, parents, the government and children,” he stressed.
Mr Dongbetigre urged teachers to endeavour to adopt new methods of teaching and learning to enhance their work.
The director further urged them to show love and care to their students in order to nurture the future of the young ones who were required to take up the mantle of leadership in future.
Nana Twum Barima II, the Oyokohene of the Seikwa Traditional Area, who represented the Omanhene of Seikwa, also urged parents not to destroy the future of their children by pampering them unnecessarily.
The chief lamented the manner some parents allowed their children to adopt the use of mobile phones in schools.
He reiterated the need for parents to encourage teachers by showing concern for their general welfare and appealed to landlords not to be reluctant to release their houses to teachers.
Present at the inauguration ceremony were the Catholic Bishop of Sunyani, the Most Rev. Matthew Akwasi Gyamfi; Mr Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the NDC Member of Parliament for Tain, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim.