DLE distrupts teaching and learning in Tema Sakumono
Tema, Dec. 18, GNA – Pupils of the Sakumono TMA Basic School were spotted Tuesday loitering as officials of the Electoral Commission took over their school to conduct the District Level Elections.
Teaching and learning was disrupted and at a point pupils were asked to go home because officials of the EC had literally taken over the entrance of classrooms and the desks of teachers.
As at 2200 hours when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the school to minotor the elections in that particular polling station – among185 others in Tema West Municipality, classrooms had been totally diserted.
Pupils were either seen playing football on the premises whilst others were spotted walking uncontrollably in areas which had been cordoned off by officials of the EC for the conduct of the elections.
A primary school teacher who pleaded anonymity said some of the teachers took advantage of the election to absent themselves from school and those whose polling stations are close by failed to show up even after voting.
The situation, she said, was worrying since missing such instructional hours could affect the pupils academically especially, because effective teaching and learning is ongoing in other schools where elections are being held.
According to her, even though the school was preparing for Christmas vacation, serious teaching and learning were still ongoing because the there was no end-of-term examination.
She alleged that a number of teachers had largely abandoned their classrooms because they had had temporaral engagements with the EC for the DLEs thus leaving the pupils to their faith.
The Headmistress of the school was unavailable for response at the time of our visit.
Meanwhile, turn out for those particular polling stations were seemingly high comparatively, as voters queued up in the searing sun to cast their votes.
