The Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) are discussing the possibility of introducing a new policy that will allow well-to-do parents to contribute to the education of their wards in schools, especially at the secondary level.
The new policy according to the Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum, will be known as the “Parent Engagement Policy”.
This new policy will seek to further enhance the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) support mechanism in Ghana’s education system.
Earlier this week, President Akuffo-Addo while addressing leadership of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) called for a broader conversation on reviewing the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy.
This comes in the wake of several calls by many Ghanaians for the government to take a second look at the Free SHS programme to find a more sustainable means of funding the initiative due to the fiscal pressure it is posing on the country’s struggling economy.
Dr Adutwum’s comments seem to suggest that the government has already initiated processes to review the Free SHS policy.
Answering questions on the financial challenges the policy has imposed on the schools, which has led to some them taking levies from parents and students in order to stay afloat, Dr Adutwum told Accra based Adom FM that voluntary contributions are acceptable.
He added that “Levy is not allowed but contributions are acceptable, but we don’t levy parents”.
The Education Minister further cautioned the schools to desist from taking monies from the students, adding that the students are not part of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) for which they should be charged.
“You can’t levy a student and tell the student not to come to school if they don’t pay their PTA levies”, he said.
“We will not implement a school system that will make things more difficult for the poor in our Country, it’s not acceptable”, he added.
In September 2017, the Akuffo-Addo led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration began the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy.
The policy is aimed at removing cost barriers to education while expanding access through the provision of infrastructure.
Under the new policy, the government covers all fees for students admitted to public senior and vocational high schools, boarding fees, meals, textbooks and other charges
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