Will the provision of temporary structures resolve SHS admission blues?

The government announced last week that it had put in motion steps to provide temporary structures for senior high schools (SHSs) that had said their facilities were overstretched as a result of admissions this year, for which reason they could not take more students.

Many of the most preferred and well-endowed schools, such as the Wesley Girls’ High School in Cape Coast and Accra Academy, turned away qualified students who had gained admission to those schools through the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS), blaming their action on the lack of accommodation for the students.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has directed the heads of the schools to manage the situation as the government continues to take measures to provide permanent solutions to the problem.

The acting Head of Public Affairs at the GES, Reverend Jonathan Bettey, has, however, not mentioned any specific amount that the government will spend to provide the temporary structures; nor has he been able to give an indication of the specific number of schools that will benefit from the emergency programme and when it will start.

Nonetheless, Rev. Bettey said contractors were accessing the work to be done and the government had already provided the necessary building materials for the affected schools to enable the contractors to start work, while, as a long-term measure, it would renovate all abandoned or dilapidated school structures to provide additional infrastructure for them.

While we laud the government and the GES for taking steps to resolve the confusion that has arisen as a result of the CSSPS system, we pause to ask whether building temporary structures for the schools that are ‘challenged’ is the best proactive step to take.

We ask this on the premise that although the government may have good intentions, it is no secret that resources at its disposal are already overstretched and it is not certain where it will get the money to embark on the emergency measure of providing temporary structures, since that is not included in the national budget.

In any case, while the contractors do their checks and put up the structures, it is certain that students who have gained admission will be waiting at home, while their mates who are already in school are studying.

Many church leaders have, on several occasions, called on the government to consider handing back the mission schools to the churches to manage, while the government deals with staffing issues. That way, it is believed enough resources would be channelled into developing the schools. It will also free the government from the burden of funding infrastructural development and other projects requiring capital investment.

The government has always cried wolf and sanctioned school heads when so-called illegal fees are charged, but we believe that if the heads are left on their own, they can come up with innovative ways of running the schools without necessarily burdening parents.

The Daily Graphic, therefore, urges the government to, for instance, reconsider its stance on the management of mission schools as one way to free itself from the headache of looking for money to run the schools, especially when emergencies such as the placement blues occur.

That way too, the schools will not be run down or neglected as a result of the lack of government subvention.