TEACHER BEHAVIOUR AND ITS EFFECTS ON PUPILS’ ATTENDANCE IN BASIC SCHOOLS IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF GHANA

Abstract

“There is no exaggeration that a spacious building, costly equipment and very sound syllabus will serve some useful purpose only when there is a teacher in the classroom who is alive to the nobility of the profession” Agarwal 2005. This paper empirically examines the importance of a teacher and how his behavior in school negatively affects attendance in basic schools in Northern Region of Ghana. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods and also used primary and secondary data. In addition to the processes and procedures of sampling, data collection and handling, multi-stage cluster technique was used as well as interview guides and questionnaire for data collection. The qualitative data in the analysis was used to support the quantitative data in many cases. It was found that absenteeism on the part of many teachers’ in the region has been a topic for discussion over the past decade, thus most teachers in the region attend school only thrice in a week (Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays). The female teachers absent themselves from school more than the male teachers. It was also revealed that the female pupils at the JHS are always being verbally and sexually harassed by most of the male teachers. Absenteeism in many instances discouraged many pupils from attending school especially the female pupils in the region and this widens the disparity in attendance in favor of the male children. The paper calls for effective monitoring by Ghana Education Service and the institutions for effective measures (for example dismissal) to deal with teachers who constantly absent themselves from school. The paper also suggests the involvement of the traditional rulers in the monitoring of the teachers in the various communities else, the achievement of gender parity in attendance in the region will always be an illusion.