Close SHSs to address feeding, other issues - PTAs tell govt

The National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (NCPTAs) has called for the closure of senior high schools (SHSs) until the issue of feeding and other pressing matters are addressed.

According to the NCPTAs, nothing was currently working in the schools after they reopened on Friday, January 3,2025.

"Nothing is working in the schools. 

All the assurance from (the previous) government that they will support with feeding, they will provide funds for feeding and all those things are not there," the General Secretary of the NCPTAs, Raphael Kofi Gapson, told the Daily Graphic yesterday.

Position

Mr Gapson said the association had always held the view that schools were not fully prepared to reopen on January 3,2025, given the constraints with food, funding and other logistics.

He said schools lacked feeding for boarders and also lacked the necessary funding to support the full operations of the schools.

He said the previous government had only paid lip service to the free SHS policy as the challenges kept increasing by the day and appeared to get out of hand.

"So, you cannot say you are providing feeding or funding support to the schools and then if they are entitled to 100 grammes (of food) a day to run the school, you send them 20 or 30
grammes a day, and you expect them to run the schools perfectly.

Mr Gapson asked: "How do they run the schools with 30 grammes a day when their budget for that day is 100 grammes?"

The associations, he said, were ready to support the running of the SHSs, and stressed the point that in some schools they were paying the additional cooks not engaged by the
government to cater for the large number of students.

Moreover, he said, they also paid for security men to be in schools that did not have adequate security, adding that once the government came out to identify areas where the NCPTAs could support, they would readily avail that support.

“We are currently using our PTA funds, which have become the proverbial Akobalm, as a special purpose vehicle for providing feeding support, extra classes, support for security and
safety in schools, recruitment of kitchen staff, utilities, sports, culture, quizzes, debates, examinations and various infrastructure projects and logistics,” he explained.

CHASS warning

As the January 3, 2025 reopening date for SHSs approached, the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) urged the Ghana Education Service to postpone the
reopening date until the government had settled the outstanding debt for food and operations.

In a statement issued on December 31, 2024, the school heads said the government failed to respond to three appeals since August 2024, for payment of arrears covering perishables,
recurrent fees and food transportation costs.

The National Secretary of CHASS, Baro Primus, therefore, directed all Regional branches to notify parents of the potential delay through parent associations.

The school heads warned that members who defied the directive would face sanctions for betraying their collective stance.

Stakeholders

Mr Gapson said the NCPTAs and other stakeholders in education had tried to support the schools to run in various ways.

He said when the association raised issues, CHASS had tended to become a political tool for the government to suppress information. 

He alleged that CHASS had stood by the government even when things were glaringly not properly done.

"Finally, it (CHASS) came out with the right verdict by saying that over two and a half years, it had issues with government over its lackadaisical attitude in addressing the feeding
challenges and funding challenges at the secondary level," he said.

The issues, Mr Gapson said, were things that were swept under the carpet, and heads of schools were now pushing for the new government to deal with them.

"We should have closed down the schools and told the students to get back home so that we can take our time, fix the mess, and make sure that the children get back to school under
a more conducive and serene atmosphere for effective and smooth teaching and learning.

"The schools are public schools, and they should operate under an open school climate, not a closed school climate," he said and emphasised that per his information, nothing
was working in the schools.

"We prefer our students being home and in our custody so that they can be well fed and safe, "the General Secretary of the NCPTAs said.

He said there was a need for the key stakeholders to sit around the table and look for solutions to tackle the crisis.

Even at the basic school level, he said, the capitation grant had been in areas for over two and a half years.