Accra — The Ghana Education Service (GES) is embarking on a head count of teachers in the Northern region as part of efforts to clean the bloated pay roll.

The exercise has apparently created panic among teachers the region.

Sources tell Public Agenda that the exercise is to assist in obtaining accurate information on personnel on pay roll who are not at post, as well as make available information when planning for teachers' economic benefits and assistance from other development partners.

The exercise, which includes photo taking by EC officials for purposes of data could be said to have flopped since cameras to be used are reported to have broken down.

Also, managers of the programme and some of the teachers who have been given the forms to fill at their convenience are alleged to be tipping those who have left their post to come for the head count.

An official of the exercise told Public Agenda that, in some instances, people who claimed to be teachers could neither write their names nor could they produce correct information on their appointment, which raises a lot of questions about how they got employed into the service. The official alleged that the worst culprits were Arabic instructors and Pupil teachers. The trained teachers and other none trained but higher certificate holders also abandoned the classroom but still connived with head teachers and managers for the salaries to be paid.