Student sacked from school because father can't afford vacation class fee

The authorities of Mando Senior High School (SHS) in the Ajumako/Enyan/Essiam District of the Central Region have prevented a form two student (name withheld) from attending classes because her father could not pay for vacation classes the girl did not attend.

“I’m her form teacher. I am only implementing the decision,” said Mr Frank Arthur, the girl’s form teacher, who ensures that she stays away from classes.

According to her father, the girl was seriously injured in school last term, so she was undergoing treatment during the vacation and could not attend the classes.

He said her daughter was worried and had been calling him regularly since school reopened to try and pay the fee, so she could attend classes.

“She called me by her teacher’s phone and I pleaded with him that things were difficult for me, so he should let her attend classes while I find the money to pay. But the teacher insisted I must pay first,” he added.

Mr Arthur, also an English Language teacher, whose phone the girl used, explained to Daily Graphic that the school’s PTA had levied GH₵210 on each child for vacation classes, adding that those who did not attend the vacation classes “are to pay only the tuition fee, which is GH₵100.”

On why students should pay for classes they did not benefit from, Mr Arthur’s reason was simple: “The PTA had agreed that whether a student attended the classes or not, the parent should pay the fee.”

He admitted that the girl was not well during the vacation but said her father should see the headmaster on the matter as that could be a special case.

The Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, announced recently that PTA’s could impose levies on themselves for development projects, with approval from school boards.

But he cautioned that PTAs are associations of parents, so students could not be held for a PTA’s decisions.