Heads of Senior High Schools (SHSs) in Ghana say they are struggling to manage their affairs following government reluctance to pay subsidies.
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) is warning the development could jeopardize academic work if funds needed for running the schools are not released by the close of next week.
According to CHASS, schools are currently managing with the leftovers of funds from the previous term which cannot sustain the students after next week.
“Since we went on the break, there was a portion of the form one’s funds that was released to us in the school. So for now, that is what we are managing to take care of the students with the hope that in the very near future, funds will be released to take care of them”, said the National CHASS President, Alhaji Yacoub A.B. Abubakari in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM.
He noted that the CHASS National Executive Council met with the Ghana Education Service in December 2019 and “we were given the assurances that they would do as much as possible to ensure that monies are released on time.”
Infrastructure challenges
CHASS also raised concerns with the lack of infrastructure at the beginning of the 2019/20 academic year.
It called on the government to as a matter of urgency resolve accommodation and infrastructural challenges facing some Senior High Schools in the country ahead of the intake of fresh students later this month.
The Ghana Education Service placed 423,134 qualified students under the 2019 Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
Following the uptick in enrolment because of the introduction of the Free SHS policy, some schools have had to convert their staff common rooms and laboratories into dormitories and classrooms.
The government also introduced the double-track policy to reduce numbers and students in schools at a given time with staggered contact hours for students on the basis of their courses.
Source: Daily Mail Gh with additional files from Citinewsroom
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