Private schools appeal for stimulus package to pay staff

The Ghana Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has appealed to the government to offer a stimulus package of GH¢400,000 to the council to enable it to pay salaries of their teachers and other staff.

It said following the closure of schools in the past five months due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), its members had not been able to generate funds to pay their staff.

The council said if the government should offer them the support, they would use the money to pay 400,000 teachers in 22,000 private education establishments across the country, pay their taxes and also contribute to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) of staff.

With the advent of COVID-19, the President directed the closure of schools, effective March 16, 2020. Final-year tertiary students as well as junior and senior high school students were later allowed to go back to school to prepare for their exit examinations, including some continuing students.

Interview

The Executive Director of GNACOPS, Mr Enoch Kwasi Gyetuah, who made the appeal in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, said although the council had applied for part of the GH¢ 600 million stimulus package announced by the government, the money to be given them might not be enough to pay the large number of teachers.

According to them, the council presented the applications of 4,300 schools out of the 22,000 to the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) for the stimulus package to pay 94,000 out of a total of 400,000 teachers.

He added that the delay in the disbursement of the fund was further burdening the schools and the teachers who were struggling as a result of the harsh economic situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Gyetuah explained that the council could not submit applications of all schools because some of them did not satisfy the criteria to access the fund while others had already contracted loans from banks.

“The Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) is a good initiative but the fact is that it will not be enough. You can imagine the number of businesses and organisations that are expected to benefit from it. Indeed the number is huge,” he added.

Recall

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday May 18, 2020, launched a GH¢1 billion CAP business support scheme to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) impacted negatively by the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Out of the amount, GH¢600 million is from government coffers while commercial banks are supposed to mobilise the rest of the funds.

Beneficiaries have a one-year moratorium and a two-year period to pay.