The Public Relations Officer of the Education Ministry, Francis Gbadago, has justified the decision to charge first year day SHS students in excess of three hundred Ghana cedis as fees.
This comes despite the implementation of the free day secondary education policy by government.
President Mahama launched the free progressive SHS education policy at a ceremony in Otuam in the Central Region to inaugurate the first of the 200 free community day Senior High Schools.
[contextly_sidebar id=”eBXOMYkuulNThSf2mGDodpdZOugWAxgv”]Per the policy, the government will absolve all fees to be borne by day students in some selected Senior High Schools across the country.
Speaking in an interview with Citi News, Francis Gbadago stated that the fees to be paid by the students is to cover the cost of items not included in the eight items not borne by the government,
“…In the case of the form one students they have one off payments to make in addition to what the government has paid so far and these items will include school uniforms, house dress, PE kits, supplementary books among others, and these items are going to be paid only once and that is all,” he said.
Meanwhile “Second year students will be paying absolutely nothing because they have nothing to pay any longer, the same thing applies to those in third year,” Mr. Gbadago added.
Currently, the amount paid by the government covers only eight items on the fees bill.
These include entertainment fees, light bill fees, SRC dues, exams fees, sports and culture among others.
The progressive free SHS policy is to help the vulnerable groups to remove financial barriers and improve access to SHS, and address inequalities.
It is also to enable students dropping out at the SHS who otherwise would have continued to acquire functional skills, as well as increase the chances of students from poor background accessing high education to reduce the cost of education of many households.
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citifmonline.com/Ghana