Five basic school teachers of the Tebeso II, D/A Junior High School in the Bosome Freho district of the Ashanti Region are said to have been transferred out of the community under the orders of the community chief.
Their crime, this portal has gathered is that they turned down a request by the chief and some opinion leaders of the area to assist the 2020 batch of the Basic Education Certificate Examination [BECE] candidates in the examination hall.
The embattled teachers, names withheld disclosed that prior to the 2020 Basic Education Certificate Examination, the chief of Tebeso II, Nana Appiah and his entourage of sub-chiefs and opinion leaders visited the school and held a discussion with them [the teachers].
The chief requested at the said meeting that the teachers should assist the candidates in the examination hall. But the now ‘banish’ tutors stated that out of respect, and knowing very well that the chief’s request is against their code of conduct, did not give an immediate response but assured him that they will visit him at the palace with feedback. “it was last year that the town had a center. So, the chief and his entourage came around that we should help the kids when the time is due, so we couldn’t give him the response that very day, so we told him that he should go and that we will come to the palace and give him our response. When we were about to go to him at the palace, we called to find out if he was around and they said he wasn’t around so we couldn’t send our response to him and we left. So, when the exams started, he went to the center the very day the exam began and stated that we have disobeyed him and that he will make sure that we are transferred”. One of the now-transferred teachers said in a telephone interview.
He added “when the examination was over, we had a call from our district directorate that our letters are ready. so, we got there, the content of the letters was that ‘you have requested for transfer’ so we ask who and who requested for transfer and the answer was non! so they took those letters back. We were there and another call came and when we went there, it was said that for the interest of the service you are thereby transferred”.
This paper is told that after the transfer of the embattled teachers, a Parent-Teacher-Association [PTA] meeting was held at the premises of the school where newly posted teachers were warned to accept the request of the community elders to assist future Basic Education Certificate Examination Candidates or suffer the fate of the embattled transferred teachers.
“Even after we were transferred, a PTA meeting was called and teachers were warned that if they want to have a nice stay in the community, they should help future Basic Education Certificate Examination candidates or suffer our fate”. One of the embattled teachers narrated.
The controversial transfers came with a punch of outrage as some residents are said to have murmured in protest albeit with fear upon receipt of the news.
Chief’s denial
The embattled chief of Tebeso II who is at the center of the controversial mass transfers of the teachers, Nana Appiah have admitted going to the school, but insisted that his visit was to broker peace between the teachers and some students who were at a feud and not to request for the help of the teachers to assist the candidates in the examination hall as speculated.
Born Kofi Appiah, the traditional ruler told Haruna Sumaila Abugri in a telephone interview that he was informed that some students of the school were at loggerheads with their tutors and as a traditional head, he sent the queen mother of the area to intervene, but the teachers, he claimed snubbed the queen mother hence his visit to the school. “I went to the school to broker peace between the teachers and some of the students. When I was informed that some students disrespected the teachers which led to a sour relationship between the duo, I sent the queen mother to go and plead on behalf of the erred students, but the offended teachers never appreciated and turned down the plea. So, I went there myself with my council of elders to sit with the teachers to see how we can resolve the fracas. We pleaded with them that they should forgive the erred students, but that did not yield the desired outcome”.
He added that the refusal of the teachers to accept the plea of the traditional authorities led to the transfer of the teachers “if they say that they wouldn’t listen to us as chiefs and elders relative to the plea, then how can I work with them? Our visit had nothing to do with the Examination. That is all that I can say”.
But the embattled teachers who say they are demanding for an-out-of-the-district transfers insisted that the chief and his entourage visited them with a sole request to help the then candidates who were going to undertake the examination in the virgin center.
According to them, the issue of a feud between them [the teachers] and the students was long resolved and that couldn’t have been the basis of the chief’s visit. “that issue was long resolved. It was just one student who insulted us, but it was resolved amicably. The chief visited us with that specific demand ‘that we should help the candidates in the examination hall’.
Director’s denial.
Seth Boateng, the Bosome Freho district director of education told stated that the teachers were transferred in the interest of the service. He insisted that the teachers were transferred to schools that were lacking staff. “is it a practice to transfer teachers in the Ghana Education Service? They were transferred to where their services are needed. We don’t transfer teachers because they refused to assist students in the examination hall. It is not our practice. We are too discipline and too minded to do that”.
Mr. Boateng has tasked the affected teachers to present pieces of evidence for redress if they have any.
But the embattled teachers insist their authorities are covering up with technicalities. “what even pain us is that we were not giving any hearing prior to the transfers. When we were transferred in such a manner, the director went to one of the communities and stated at a program that teachers who fail to listen to their traditional authorities will also be transferred just as he did to us”.
However, on the part of the embattled teachers, This reporter is informed they are demanding a transfer out of the district as they doubt their security. They are also demanding their transfer grant. In 2019, the government released 49 million Ghana Cedis to pay for teachers’ transfer grants as well as other allowances. But the administrative head of the Bosome Freho district education directorate, however, stated that the embattled teachers do not qualify for transfer grants. According to Seth Boateng, the proximity rule that allows a transferred teacher to benefit from the grant is deficient as far as the affected teachers are concerned.
Meanwhile, some teachers within the area in a state of anonymity confided to this reporter said the teachers were indeed transferred under the request of the chief of the area for refusing to assist the 2020 Basic Education Certificate Examination candidates in the examination hall as requested by the chief and his elders.
More to come!
Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Haruna Sumaila Abugri (Contributor)
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