Teachers react to GES’ late disrespectful update on new vacation date

The Ghana Education Service has given a very late update on vacation date for public schools, which has led to a lot of worry among teachers and head teachers of public basic schools.

One would have expected GES to be very proactive in the delivery of changes in the vacation date given that teachers have communicated the date of vacation with parents and have their personal and family plans which include traveling among others for the festive season.

The late update was given to teachers late Wednesday, 14th December 2022 when schools were already preparing to vacate on Thursday 15th December 2022.

The question many are asking is that does the GES really plan and executes within the tenets of Total Quality Principles, or whether it takes such decisions based on impulse.

Before the 2022 National Standardized Test timetable was released, a proactive GES would have matched the exam timetable with the vacation date for the 2022 academic year and updated teachers and schools accordingly. This would not have created the currently unprofessional situation.

The GES needs to respect time as well as its staff, who have the right to receive timely information at all times to aid their work and personal lives.

Teachers have since reacted to GES’ late disrespectful update on the vacation date and have called the management out to be proactive. They have also indicated the difficulty they face with the new directive, as many have communicated vacation details to learners and parents already and also have their personal plans effective Friday.

According to the late directive from the Ghana Education Service (GES) schools are not allowed to vacate on Thursday, 15th December 2022.

The new date which was published on its Facebook page in the late hours of Wednesday said the date for the Third Term Vacation has been shifted to Friday, 16th December 2022.

According to the GES, this decision was informed by the ongoing 2022 National Standardized Test.

It further added that the extension of the school days by one more day will permit Primary Four (P4) pupils to write the National Standardized Test scheduled for Friday, 16th December 2022.

READ: 2023 Pre-Tertiary Academic Calendar Out With Key Changes

The reopening date for Term 1 of the 2023 academic year is January 10th, 2023.

The announcement made through the Public Relations Unit of the GES has seen divergent reactions, many of which spoke against the lack of proactiveness, poor planning, and untimely information transfer.

“Just some few hours to Thursday and you are now announcing this, my wife will vacate tomorrow you have to respect your people” one of the comments left on the post from the GES read.

The GES acted the same way in 2021 around the same time and seems to be less conscious of the negative impact and negative publicity it gets for failing to do things right.

“GES never learns. Last year you did the same and this time around, too, you’re doing it again. Well, I have already packed everything, and I’m leaving tomorrow” another comment stated.

“With less than 24 hours to vacation tomorrow, you are now coming out with this letter in the evening, kindly meet the pupils in their homes as some have already vacated,” a teacher said.

“There’s time for everything, do you know the planning that goes into vacation, you can’t use your Sobolobo meeting to change a whole academic calendar… I booked my ticket in advance… No more waiting, we are not television sets to be controlled with a remote, we are humans, and we’ll act as humans.”

Others have argued that the GES is always confused and that they don’t know what they are doing. They have called out the GES on its bad very administrative practices.

For some the fact that the GES is unable to get simple things such as vacation dates right several months before vacation is a leadership problem.

“Well some of us will disobey this directive. You can’t just change the vacation date, a day to vacation.” Another comment indicated. The Dr. Eric Nkansah-led GES must do things differently. The date for the NTS must be planned to fit into the academic calendar and not outside it while communication with teachers and non-teaching staff of the education service must be timely and respectful at all times.

Re-opening date for the First Term of the next academic year is 10th January 2023.

Please be informed.

Public Relations Unit