Mr Buadi gave the warning in a speech read on his behalf at a review and stakeholders’ meeting of Pencils of Promise (PoP), an international education non-profit organisation in Ho.

The meeting attracted Directors of Education and District Coordinating Directors from 20 districts in the Volta Region and two districts in the Eastern Region, the operational areas of the Organisation.

Mr Buadi expressed regret that some schools were abusing the worship period and had extended it into lesson hours characterised by intensive prayer sessions. He said the act was “unacceptable” and also instructed the schools to stop taking offering from pupils during the worship period, because they were not working.

Mr Freeman Gobah, the Country Director, Pencils of Promise, said the spirituality attached to worship sessions at schools was worrying. He said a cursory observation indicated that teachers were not adhering to lesson time tables and called for supervision in that regard. Mr Gobah also expressed worry about corporal punishment in schools and called on directors and school heads to adopt positive discipline concept.

He said Pencils of Promise had built 103 classroom blocks in the Volta and Eastern Regions in four years, with 13 more projects at different stages of completion, supported teachers and gave scholarships to pupils. Mr Gobah said his outfit would build 40 more classroom blocks in 2017 and provide support to teachers.