Proprietors of various private Senior High Schools (SHS) in the country will need to review their fees downward if they are to remain in business following announcement of the Free SHS programme by government later this year, David Ofori-Acheampong, General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), has said.
According to him, although the Free SHS programme will not collapse private senior high schools since the criteria for selection of students into second cycle institutions would be maintained, there is the need for private SHS owners to reduce their fees because most pupils will strive to meet admission requirements of public senior high schools.
President Akufo-Addo, during the 60th anniversary celebration of Okuapeman School, where he was the Special Guest of Honour, indicated in his speech on Saturday February 11 that “government will fund the cost of public senior high schools for all those who qualify for entry from September this year”.
He explained: “By free SHS, we mean that, in addition to tuition which is already free, there will be no admission fees, no library fees, no science centre fees, no computer lab fees, no examination fees, no utility fees; there will be free textbooks, free boarding and free meals, and day students will get a meal at school for free.”
The president further indicated that the policy would also cover agricultural, vocational, and technical institutions at the high school level.
However, the Public Relations Officer of Conference of Heads of Private Second Cycle Schools (CHOPSS), Naphtali Kyei Baffour, said the policy, if implemented, will put them out of business.
“…It is an undeniable fact that the private sector is the engine of growth for development. Therefore, any policy that seeks to collapse the activities of the private sector should be reconsidered…” he stated.
Allaying the fears of private school owners that the programme will keep them out of business, Mr Ofori-Acheampong, speaking with Accra News on Wednesday February 22, said: “The directors of the private senior high schools should not be scared because the assessment criteria for entering into senior high schools will not be altered; we are going to use the same criteria. Thus, if a particular school is supposed to admit 500 students, that same number will be admitted. If the pass rate is aggregate 24, it will be the same, and so they will still have people who will enrol in the private SHSs and support government in the educational sector.
“What they need to do is to review their arrangement, especially the cost of their fees, because now that public schools will be free, all the pupils will work hard to meet the criteria for admission so they will not have to pay any fees.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
