HIGH HANDEDNESS WON'T HELP (October 18, 2007)

REPORTS from Tema say that the headteacher of the Padmore Street Primary (1) School has been demoted and transferred for allegedly speaking to journalists on the occasion of "My First Day at School". According to the reports, Mrs Helina Abrokwa's offence was that she spoke about low enrolment in her school on the day of re-opening for the 2007/2008 academic year on September 11.
Consequently, the Tema Municipal Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mrs Lucy Kwapong, directed Ms Abrokwa to revert to the classroom at a different school and hand over to a new head under the supervision of the Internal Audit Unit of the Tema Municipal Directorate of the GES.
This report comes in the wake of a similar directive to the Accra Metro Director of Education for daring to suggest that the country was not ready for the new educational reform programme.
Ms Abrokwa is on record as denying ever speaking to journalists about the low enrolment in her school. But assuming she spoke the truth about the situation, was it proper for the Director of the Tema Municipal Directorate of Education to have handed her this draconian sanction?
The DAILY GRAPHIC does not intend to suggest that the appropriate sanctions should not be applied if public officials breach service regulations. Nonetheless, we think that this punishment looks like killing a mosquito with a sledge hammer. For, after all, the new educational reform programme stands the chance of success if all interest groups, particularly teachers, are encouraged to offer their support towards its implementation.
All persons of goodwill know that a reform programme of the magnitude that we have embarked upon is bound to face challenges, but how we respond to the teething problems will prove to those who have called for caution that the government and the GES are on top of the issues.
As issues stand now, the GES, by its action, is likely to instil the spirit of apathy in teachers and other educational workers to such an extent that they will not volunteer suggestions, even if things are going wrong with the educational reform process.
The officials in the GES who have carried on these knee-jerk reactions are cautioned to seek counsel in the Akan adage: “Nea otwa esa no nnim se n'akyi akyea”, to wit “The path maker does not know where he/she has gone crooked”.
The policy-makers do not know it all and so the success of the educational reform programme will depend on the willingness of all — parents, teachers, the government and, indeed, the entire community.
Public debate of any policy initiative is one of the pillars of corporate governance, as well as respect for human rights. Public debate helps to encourage the participation of the people in matters that affect their well-being. The only way to give expression to public participation and ownership of the process is by our deliberate action that not only praise singers will be recognised.
The DAILY GRAPHIC appeals to the authorities not to allow these two cases to send the wrong signals to teachers to look on unconcerned when things are going wrong. We call on the Minister of Education, Science and Sports to intervene in these incidents and direct the GES to stop these transfers if they were based on reports that the two officers involved spoke about the challenges facing the educational reform programme.
Let us encourage participation in the processes that affect our forward march, instead of showing contempt for those who speak the truth. Society will be the loser if, in the present democratic dispensation, some personalities want us to believe that the fundamental values of free expression should be destroyed for sectarian reasons or social power.