The Ghana Education Service (GES) has dismissed claims it has failed to release scholarship funds for Senior High Schools.
President of the Conference of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) Mrs Cecilia Kwakye Coffie, while addressing a speech and prize giving day of the Winneba Senior High School, accused the GES of not addressing the numerous challenges facing secondary schools.
Mrs Coffie reportedly said although heads of SHSs have submitted the enrolment figures and also engaged government on several occasions, nothing was forthcoming.
She further stated that school heads are under serious pressure but are unable to voice it out for fear of victimisation and sanctions, adding that continuing students are refusing to pay their fees as they insist they are also Ghanaians and are, therefore, entitled to Free Senior High School education.
Speaking to OTECNEWS, the Director General of the GES Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, refuted the claims adding that under arrangements agreed ahead of the implementation of the Free SHS programme, of which CHASS was a part, schools received an upfront payment of 20% of their funds, based on the number of students that they had stated they could admit.
This was to help them acquire perishable produce for feeding the students and also for general running of the school.
The balance was to be released to a school once it had submitted their returns to the GES on the number of students they had actually enrolled and the necessary deductions made. CHASS was at all times involved in this arrangement.
Source: otecfmghana.com