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School grants and bottlenecks
By Abdul Salam Sule, Ghanadot
Accra, April 28, Ghanadot - The
introduction of the capitation grant for basic schools by the
erstwhile Kufour administration undoubtedly came
as a big relief to many parents
who could not afford the high fees being charged by the various
public schools.
With the capitation grant, the subsidy paid by government per
student covers fees for general stationary and management,
office machinery, first aid, building maintenance, cultural and
sports fees and text book user fees. In all, the government
was paying GHC 3 per ward.
But the release of the fund by the government has always
come as a problem.
As of now, there are some arrears to be paid for the last
academic year to the various public schools
on top of the new one
that has to be paid this year.
This development has no doubt affect the smooth administration
of the various public schools since they all rely on the
capitation grant. Investigation conducted by Ghanadot
revealed that, the delays in the release of the grant often
compelled some school heads to impose all kinds of illegal
levies on parents thereby burdening them excessively
with debt.
Apart from the capitation grant, the government also pays for
feeding grant for Senior High School students in the Northern
part of the country, a programme which was introduced by Dr
Kwame Nkrumah. The government,
according to the heads of the various senior high schools in the
Northern Region, is not prompt with that
payment either.
The delay of the payment of the
feeding grant, according to these
heads of the various high schools in the North, had put
them in a serious financial crisis as they owe large sums of
money for food stuffs bought on credit. Some of them who are not
able to contain the situation send the students home before the
completion of the term.
The Ministry of Education in a statement issued over the weekend
has however promised to release funds on time to enable the
schools function well.
The statement
also said
the government had increased the capitation grant from 3 Ghana
cedis per ward to 5 Ghana cedis.
It announced that the government has released a total of GHC
16,773,155.20 as capitation grants and subsidy for senior high
schools.
According to the statement from the Public Relations Unit of the
Education Ministry, the sum GHC
7,892,285.65 of the grant is for the
first and second term of 2008/2009 academic year and arrears for
2006/2007 academic year to the basic schools.
Ghanadot
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