The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) is calling on government to regulate activities of private basic schools in the country.
According to them some private basic schools in the country are taking advantage of the fallen standards in the educational system to fleece parents by charging exorbitant fees.
They believe such outrageous fees charged by these schools do not reflect in the services they render.
[contextly_sidebar id=”LtDOPQSGk8w8v0tr4K201ALxBQZnp3Qs”]This was made known at a workshop to review the Coalition`s input to the UN Committee on the Right of the Child, CRC in Accra on Thursday.
The comment follows a recent survey conducted by the Ghana Education Service (GES) which showed that about 98 percent of primary two pupils in various schools across the country can neither read nor understand English or any Ghanaian language properly.
The release of the findings was met with a lot of criticisms with some blaming the Ministry of Education for their lack of monitoring of schools in the country.
Speaking at the workshop, the National Coordinator of GNECC, Lesley Tetteh indicated that if these private schools are not checked, they will infringe on the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Right of the Child including the Child`s Right to Education (UNICEF).
He said; “these schools are charging fees which they believe is affordable. The issue is with the quality of education they are giving to their pupils. Many of the teachers are not qualified so there is no assurance of quality.”
He however called on the sector ministry to enforce the regulatory framework, section 23 of the education Act 2008, Act 778 which stipulates how these private schools should be regulated.
Lesley Tetteh indicated that “it is time for the Private Education unit of the Ghana Education Service to enforce the Act… to ensure that the poor and the deprived are not left behind.”
“Government should also put in more commitment to protect the poor and the vulnerable,” he added.
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By: Kojo Agyeman/Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana