The Bosome Freho District Education Oversight Committee held its regular meeting on 28th April, 2023, at the District Assembly Hall. The meeting was chaired by the District Director of Education, Mr. Seth Boateng, and attended by other committee members, including representatives from the Ghana Education Service, District Assembly, Parent-Teacher Associations, School Management Committees, and community leaders.
The meeting discussed various issues affecting education in the district and made decisions on the way forward. Some of the key highlights of the meeting are as follows:
Update on Communication Outreach Programme
Members were informed that the Education Directorates have successfully roll out the programme in all the circuits as expected. Per the T-TEL /GES recommendations on report submission, Mr. Asabere mentioned that the third quarter stakeholder’s (SISO) as well as the district’s report submission were very fruitful and encouraging.
However, he stressed that his outfit was having a very challenging situation in getting access to activity report for programmes performed under the CEP, from the Human Resource Manager, Public Relations Officer and the Communication Team. A situation which was said to have negatively affected the effective preparation and submission of the district’s comprehensive report for support from GES/T-TEL. Deliberating on the impact, the Committee however, directed the District Education Director to invite the officers concern at the Committees next meeting to discuss the way forward. The District Enabler on his part, advise the Committee to act swiftly on the matter since it was the major factor affecting the progress of the activities of the CEP in the district. He stressed on lack of transparency and improper procedural methods as some of the factors affecting the implementation of the district’s Learning Transformation Agenda.
Purchase of Motorbike
The Committee was informed that the vendor has successfully conveyed the two motorbikes procured, to the District Education’s premises after the full payment was made. The District Director of Education remarked that the motorbikes were not put to use currently since the licenses processes from the DVLA was still in progress. He stressed that since there was no allocation made in this regard, he has personally committed an amount of One Thousand Five Hundred Ghana Cedis (Ghs1,500.00) to ensure that the processes go through successfully and on time and of the conviction that the Committee would refund the said amount to him when funds were released for the purpose. The Committee Commended the directorate and the implementation team for good work done.
Maintenance of Official Vehicle (Pickup)
The District Director of Education informed the House that one of the two pickup vehicle which was conveyed to the mechanics for maintenance was having problem with the new engine bought and was still taken care of. He confirmed that as at the time of the committee’s meeting, the other one was road worthy and ready for operation to support monitoring and supervision.
Documentation on Furniture Production
Member were informed that though the directorate have made every effort in submitting the necessary document covering the purchase of the mono and the dual desks as approved at the committee level yet feedback has not been received from GES/T-TEL. The District Director of Education explained that per follow-up on the request made indicate that background checks were still on-going. The Committee deliberated further on the situation and directed the Education Directorate to humbly, write a follow-up letter and request for update in that regard from GES/T-TEL. The District Director subsequently, informed the Committee on his intended visit to the GES secretariat on similar mission and promise to keep inform the committee on the outcome.
DISTRIBUTION OF MONO AND DUAL DESK
The Committee invited the Contractor whom the district awarded the manufacturing of furniture for her deprived schools, as part of the implementation of activities of the CEP’s learning and transformation agenda, for a brief deliberation on how the remaining furniture at his depot under the previous contract, could be distributed to schools with furniture deficit.
Deliberating on the contractual agreement, Mr. Ampomah explain that even though the distribution of the furniture manufactured was not part of the previous MoU yet per the humbly request from the Committee, he willingly accepted to distribute the remaining mono and the dual desks at his workshop to the various circuits in the district as discussed, at his own cost. Members unanimously, commended him for the selfless and dedicated services rendered and used the opportunity to advised him to as part of his occupational knowledge, accept every constructive critiesm that might pave way for extension of the contract in the near future through quality work and services rendered. The supply officer therefore tasked to liaise with the contractor to arrange for the distribution by the end of the ensuing week.
FALL-OUT OF VISIT BY GES/T-TEL
The Committee was briefed on the follow-up monitoring visit by GES/T-TEL on the 19th April, 2023. The purpose was said to re-access how well the directives and recommendations made on the previous feedback were put to practice in the district. Based on the assessment, the underlisted challenges were identified and urged the directorate to work on;
- Teacher deficit and multi-grade teaching not effective to improve teaching and learning
- Lack of furniture in some community schools especially, at the Nsuta and Ampento circuit
- Poor documentation of PLC meeting minutes, report and attendance records with PLC success story missing out
- Inadequate SMC and parental support to schools
