By Damian Avevor
The members of the Association of Catholic Teachers (ACT), has described as embarrassing to the teaching profession cases of sexual immorality between some teachers and students in some Schools in the country.
“We condemn such acts by teachers and other professionals and call on all Teacher Unions to lead a crusade against sexual immorality by all those who should be custodians of morality,” they said.
In a Press Statement at the end of its Third National Congress at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese on the theme: Call to leadership, the Association called on its members to desist from immoral acts and rather focus on their God-given mission of forming to transform society.
The Association lamented that drunkenness, lateness and absenteeism remained a challenge to managers of educational institutions and entreated members to set themselves apart and serve as role models to ensure they achieve quality education in the country.
On sanitation, the statement stressed that the fight for environmental cleanliness should be a collective responsibility, calling on Teachers in the country, as part of their leadership role to be Ambassadors for clean environment by showing examples for their pupils to emulate.
“The essence of our task as educators would be lost if we mess up the environment for it to be eventually cleaned by the “illiterate”. For us, indiscriminate waste disposal is as dangerous as illegal mining (galamsey) and must be fought with all the seriousness it deserves,” the Statement added.
On the debate on the legalisation of homosexual rights, the ACT added its voice to institutions, organisations and individuals who abhor the act that, “much as homosexuals have their rights as humans; never should the practice of “it” receive any constitutional, religious or cultural endorsement in this country.”
It raised concerns on the Ghana Education Service’s transfers of heads of Second Cycle institutions, saying that “Inasmuch as ACT is not against such transfers, we have observed with great concern that some of these heads hardly spend up to two or three years in the Schools before they are transferred.”
This, the Association said affects their performances because their plans for the Schools rarely see the light of day. They urged the GES to always consider the number of years a particular Head has spent in a School before she/he is transferred.
Meanwhile, the ACT said it does not rule out peculiar instances where such transfers may be in the best interest of the schools but not the individual
The Press Statement was signed by Mr. Emmanuel Gazari, the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocesan Secretary, and Mr. Williams Boakye Baafi, the National Co-ordinator of ACT. The ACT is a faith-based Association that seeks among other things to continue and sustain the ministry of teaching instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ.
