THERE IS NO WITCHHUNT AGAINST MS ABROKWA - GES DIRECTOR-GENERAL (P.11)

Story: Kofi Yeboah
THE Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah, says there is no witch-hunt against Ms Helena Abrokwa, the transferred headmistress of Padmore Street Primary One School in Tema, who has been reinstated as headmistress.
He, however, expressed the hope that the recent developments on her transfer and re-instatement as headmistress would serve as a good lesson to her and others whose conduct and performance had been below par.
Mr Bannerman-Mensah made the remark in an interview with the Daily Graphic on Wednesday to throw more light on the findings of the committee that investigated the circumstances leading to the transfer of Ms Abrokwa, following which she was re-instated as headmistress.
A letter of reinstatement given to Ms Abrokwa on Tuesday, dated November 29, 2007 and signed by Mr Bannerman-Mensah, said management had decided that Ms Abrokwa remain as head, “but should be transferred from the current school in her own interest”.
“This instruction is without prejudice to any other transfer that the Municipal Office may have to effect in the interest of the service”, the letter added.
Mr Bannerman-Mensah explained that the re-instatement of Ms Abrokwa was not because she was absolved of the charges of negative conduct levelled against her but because the procedure adopted by the Municipal Director of Education in the sanctions was inappropriate.
He said, indeed, Ms Abrokwa had conceded the charges against her and had written to apologise to the municipal director in that respect.
Mr Bannerman-Mensah said although the municipal director had the authority to transfer the headmistress and relieve her of the headship responsibility, she should not have done so without allowing her (Ms Abrokwa) to appear before a disciplinary committee.
He said Ms Abrokwa also erred in not seeking redress from the Regional Director of Education and instead chose to do so through the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).
When asked where Ms Abrokwa was being transferred to, Mr Bannerman-Mensah said that would depend on her personal interest and consultation with the regional director of education.
He said it was in her own interest not to go back to her former school in view of the animosity that she had built up against herself.
Mr Bannerman-Mensah expressed disappointment at the way the media and some members of the public had been biased on the issue and castigating the GES over what had happened, and that that gave the impression that they were not well informed.
Last September, Ms Abrokwa was reported to have been demoted and transferred for allegedly granting interviews to journalists during the “My First Day in School” programme, to the effect that there was poor enrolment in her school.
Following the media report, there was spontaneous public condemnation of the action by the municipal director. Members of the Tema branch of GNAT, who were in the forefront of the protestations, threatened to go on strike if the decision against their colleague was not reversed immediately.
The GES management responded to the concerns with the setting up of a committee to investigate the matter after which it submitted its findings to management on November 26, 2007.
According to the committee, Ms Abrokwa’s transfer was not because she spoke to the press but because of her inactivity and lack of initiative on that day, coupled with several previous verbal warnings and adverse findings in the log book.
“Her transfer could not be based on the low enrolment since her school is not the only school which recorded low enrolment on that day”, the committee noted, adding that the issue of demotion being projected had no basis because there was a difference between responsibility and rank.
“Headship is a responsibility. She was relieved of that responsibility but she still holds on to her rank - Assistant Director, and her salary”, the committee remarked.
It found that the compound of the school had been left dirty even after Ms Abrokwa had been alerted before the arrival of the municipal director and her entourage.
It noted that Ms Abrokwa’s excuse of misinformation on the reopening date was neither here nor there since reopening dates of schools were determined by the GES.
“Any clearance of suggested ambiguity should have been sought from GES office and a teacher with a claim of a long period of 35 years in the service should know better”, it indicated.
The committee also found that Ms Abrokwa’s unco-operative attitude in the school was because she was at loggerheads with her counterpart headteacher and many of the executive members of the school management committee (SMC) and also the parent-teacher association (PTA).