Basic school heads worried over delay in release of capitation grant
The Conference of Heads of Basic Schools (COHBS) has expressed concern about the delay in the release of capitation grant to the schools for the 2013/ 2014 academic year.
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Head teachers of basic schools depend on the capitation grant to undertake educational activities and to buy teaching and learning materials.
According to the COHBS, the delay was negatively affecting the quality of education.
The President of COHBS, Mrs Naa Adoley Boye Quaye, expressed the concern on behalf of the conference at the third annual municipal meeting of COHBS in Accra yesterday.
She, therefore, called on stakeholders to accelerate action on the payment of the capitation grant.
Participants in the conference reviewed the 2013/2014 academic year, identified challenges, the progress made and charted the way forward towards improving basic school education.
The meeting was on the theme, “Enhancing the standard of education in Ghana: the role of the basic school headteacher”.
The capitation grant is a social intervention policy aimed at providing quality, affordable education for all.
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It gives true meaning to the concept of Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) as a feature of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Challenge
Mrs Boye Quaye urged the headteachers to improvise ways of generating funds to run their schools instead of relying solely on the grant.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of COHBS, Mr John Gyatsen, said the delay in releasing the capitation grant, which was not even adequate for its intended purpose, was affecting the work of headteachers.
He, therefore, appealed to the government to address the issue as a matter of urgency.
Defilement
In a statement read on her behalf, the Ga South Municipal Director of Education, Mrs Florence Addo, expressed concern that emphasis was being placed on academic performance to the disadvantage of the holistic training educators were expected to provide.
According to her, there were rampant reports of immorality in schools.
“The rate at which fathers, uncles and other relatives are defiling our young schoolgirls, and sometimes boys, is rather alarming,” she added.
She appealed to COHBS to find an antidote to the situation where the older generation was capitalising on the innocence of pupils to satisfy their sexual desires.
Writer’s email Doreen.andoh@graphic.com.gh