The Ghana Education Service (GES) has directed the headmaster of Kpassa Senior High Technical School (KPASTECH), located in the Nkwanta-North District in the Oti Region, Rockson Kwame Tawiah, to report to the headquarters of the service in Accra over the imposition of unauthorised fines on students.
Mr Tawiah is alleged to have imposed, without the consent of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) or approval of the Board of Governors, a fine of GH¢150 on each of the over 2,900 students for what he claimed was to compensate for the loss of some items in the school.
Highly placed sources at the GES and the Ministry of Education told the Daily Graphic that Mr Tawiah was expected to report at the headquarters of the service on Tuesday, October 28, without fail.
“I can confirm that the headmaster of KPASTECH in the Oti Region has been asked to report to the GES headquarters for interrogation on the issues that have been raised in Daily Graphic’s story.
It is important to get to the root of the matter so that the right action can be taken,” one of the sources stated.
The source did not give further details on the modalities for the meeting except to say that the right procedure would be followed to ensure that the right thing was done.
Context
The Daily Graphic carried the story on its front page today (October 27), indicating that the students were made to pay a total of GH¢435,000 for the loss of 27 ceiling fans, some lamp holders and bulbs that had been reportedly removed.
The paper added that while it remained unclear how the items were reportedly removed from the school, the headmaster forced all the 860 students who wrote this year's West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to pay the GH¢150 fine, threatening to block their results if they failed to do so.
The story indicated that the Daily Graphic had received dozens of receipts bearing the stamp of the accountant of KPASTEC, confirming the payments made by the students.
The Daily Graphic said it had found that all newly admitted students to the school were made to buy a ream of A4 bond paper and one mini bucket of emulsion paint, although those items are not part of the prospectus approved by the Ghana Education Service (GES) for fresh students.
Again, the paper reported that the students have also been required to pay GH¢50 before their admission letters are accepted, with no receipts issued to back the payments.
Parents described the development as worrying, especially since the government had introduced the free senior high school policy to ease their financial burden.
Updates
Meanwhile, the Daily Graphic has gathered that following the publication of the story, the school authorities had sent messages to the students to come for a refund of the money they had paid.
Some of the students and parents confirmed to the Daily Graphic that they had received refund of the money today (October 27).
Despite the effort to refund the money that had been collected, some members of the KPASTECH Old Students Association are demanding accountability in the refund of the money.
