Ministry of Education, CHASS must dialogue

The 2014/2015 academic calendar for senior high schools (SHSs) is scheduled to take off from September 16, 2014.

Last week, the Ministry of Education announced a new feeding fee of GHc3.30 for SHS students, representing a 50 per cent increment on the GHc2.20 which had been in place since the 2012/2013 academic year.

But even before the schools reopen, the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) is arguing that the GH¢3.30 daily feeding fee will affect the quality and quantity of food that will be given to the students. 

The ministry, however, insists that CHASS was part of the deliberations that endorsed the new feeding fee. 

The Daily Graphic thinks that it is too early in the day for such controversies to spring up even before the schools reopen.

Issues of lack of infrastructure for schools, access to secondary education, inadequate number  of teachers, especially in rural areas, the delayed disbursement of feeding grants, among other challenges, still confront our educational sector.

Without doubt, prevailing economic conditions are not the best and it will be disastrous to impose charges on parents who cannot afford to pay. That would mean preventing more students from accessing secondary education.

The Daily Graphic, therefore, believes that instead of taking their disagreement into the public arena, the two institutions should try to resolve the differences in the boardroom. They should also team up to find solutions to the other challenges, for a divided house cannot stand.

Both CHASS and the ministry must ensure that all the bureaucratic tendencies that have hampered the early release of feeding grants are quickly resolved, so that money can always be released on time. That way, the annual ritual of schools in the northern part of the country threatening to close down for non-payment of feeding grants and subsidies for utilities and other items will not recur this year.

While CHASS has indicated that the new rate is going to affect the quality and quantity of the food to be served to students, others have also argued that since the schools buy their foodstuffs in bulk, the expenditure will not be as much as anticipated. 

Whichever way one looks at it, we believe that a boardroom dialogue can settle the differences, so that there will be calm on the educational front.

Parents and guardians would certainly not want their children and wards to be sacked from school for the non-payment of fees. The students will certainly not be in the best frame of mind if the academic calendar is disrupted.

The Daily Graphic, therefore, urges both CHASS and the Ministry of Education, as well as other key stakeholders, to reconcile their differences, so that calm will be restored. 

The turbulence that has affected the tertiary educational sector should not be allowed to spill over to the SHSs.