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Minister of Education Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh
The Conference of Directors of Assisted High Schools (CHASS) has called for a review of the Free SHS policy, especially the policy on Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) in schools after three years of its existence.
According to CHASS, the policy has led to the collapse of PTAs in schools across the country, which explains many abandoned projects at various levels, as well as support for schools.
Speaking at the CHASS Fifth Annual Conference at Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast, Conference President Yakub Abubakar urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) and other stakeholders to consider a rollback of the policy to ensure an implementation effective and positive results.
“The observation from the Conference is that PTA activities are gradually dying out in our schools. Up until now, PTAs have been playing a very important role in our schools, ”he said.
In addition, he highlighted the benefits of PTAs in schools and stated that in the past Associations used to pressure schools when there were delays in delivering funds, however this is no longer possible in the era of free SHS .
He said schools cannot function efficiently as a result.
“Currently, despite delays in the delivery of funds, schools do not have the influence like PTAs to help them and therefore make effective school management difficult,” he added.
“If a policy is in force and for the last three years and it is not working, then we must re-analyze it,” he said.
In addition, CHASS raised concerns about the quality of reserve stocks in upper secondary schools.
He said that even though Buffer Stock has ensured that the mandate it was given to supply food across the country was met, there are many complaints from schools regarding the quality and quantity of the food.
“Buffet Stock should be seen as operating in accordance with its mandate and not as intermediaries that react quickly to changes in market prices, either by valuing their supplies and sometimes not supplying anything. A typical example today is peanuts and mackerel, ”he said.
CHASS also rebuked the delays in developing the new code of conduct for schools, stating that schools are struggling to ensure discipline.
In addition, they called for a review of the portion of the food grant awarded to schools, and advocated an increase from 30% awarded to schools to a minimum of 40%.
