Teacher management and support services in Wassa West district of Ghana

Abstract

Support services are expected to be provided by management bodies to make the teacher work better. The study aimed at finding out the extent the District Education Office (DEO), the District Education Oversight Committee (DEOC) represented by the District Assembly, the traditional authority and heads of government departments in the district, the School Management Committees and the Parent Teacher Associations (SMC/PTA) are working to support the teacher. The study covered 40 schools in the Wassa West District and 347 teachers, 78 SMC/PTA members, 18 DEO staff and 11 members of the DEOC were involved in the study. It was found that the district education office does not perform well when it comes to the welfare of the teacher like providing accommodation and suitable school environment within which the teacher should work. The activities of the DEOC were found to be concentrated in the urban areas. The SMC/PTA was found to be working well in the rural communities. It was further found that the policies on capitation, school feeding programme and school materials for needy children have created irresponsibility among some parents and that has affected the finances of the SMC/PTA.