THE commissioners of the inquiry into the state of the education system are calling on policy-makers to instill strong moral and ethical moral values in staffers, since it would help in preventing a transfer of bad attributes at work.

The preliminary report which was handed over to the Education Ministry by Chairman Ed Caesar and his team some weeks ago, found that a clash of personalities is adding to setbacks within the education system.

He said various levels of workers are having personal issues with each other.

“The vast majority of issues that were found by the Commission of Inquiry related directly to, and resulted from, a lack of integrity, negative attitudes, egotism, inflexibility, a lack of consultation with teachers on the ground and a lack of respect for teachers by officers who supervise them,” the report said.

It also revealed great hostility between education staffers, particularly between regional education officers and the teachers in their respective regions.

The report further noted that there seemed to be a lack of care and concern by education officers in the execution of their duties.

To this end, the commission submitted that the education system, “…should seek to complement academic learning with a strong sense of integrity, morality and service, particularly in secondary schools.”

This, it said, is for the simple reason of patterns of thought and behaviour being fixed to adolescents at that level of schooling.

The report noted that in some cases, there is no clear communication chain between the regional staff and the regional official, which causes some matters to go unreported and unchecked.

It also noted that it appeared that some officers were not aware of their responsibilities in the region.

And the authorities do not properly consult stakeholders and teachers when policies are at their drafting stage

“Such would ensure that they can work on the ground and in all the regions and that they receive the support and cooperation of all those who have the responsibility to implement them.”

The inquiry pointed out that several policies that failed to include all stakeholders were found to be unsuited for their identified locations, particularly where the peculiarities of hinterland communities exist.

Outside of this, the commission found that most of the regions had an acute shortage of education officers to monitor schools and assist teachers.

The commissioners said one way to reverse this situation would be to re-hire retired teachers and/or officers who have proven themselves to be highly effective and strive for standards of excellence.

They also recommended that the criteria used to determine the number of officers to be assigned to each Department of Education should be reviewed and consideration should be given to a re-orientation programme for education officers and rigid monitoring of performance.

Despite being engaged in the Cadet Programme to adequately prepare education officers for their tasks ahead, the CoI report found that in a number of instances, cadets were found to be ineffective and disrespectful to teachers.

With an improved appraisal system, the commissioners said there would be appropriate sanctions for poorly performing education officers.