Challenges in managing discipline in the educational districts in the Eastern Region of Ghana

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to find out the challenges teachers in the Eastern Region of Ghana encountered when they visited their various District Education Offices to seek solutions to their problems. The study also sought to find out Management's challenges with regard to unacceptable behaviour and attitudes exhibited by some workers at District Education Offices. The sample for the study comprised 10 district directors, 40 frontline officers, 400 teachers and 150 workers at district directorates of education in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The researcher used questionnaire and an interview guide for the study Also of interest to the study was how Management handled such disciplinary cases. The study revealed that, the challenges teachers faced included illegal financial demands from office workers, travelling from long distances to present their problems, delay in attending to them, rude behaviour of some of the office workers and loss or misplacement of teachers' documents. The study further showed that the workers did not refute the allegations by the teachers. It came out from their responses that loss or misplacement of documents, for example, might be due to movement of tiles within some sections at the directorate. Moreover, the study indicated that, Management was aware of some of those incidents but was finding it tough to curb them since teachers would not give enough information about what they had gone through and who was to be held responsible. On the basis of the findings, it is recommended that. Management should intensify its supervisory role to monitor every activity at the DEOs.