The Conference of Heads of Private Second Cycle Schools (CHOPSS) has rejected claims that they lack the needed quality to absorb students under the government’s free SHS programme to ease the burden on public schools.
This comes as the government is yet to respond to suggestions that it co-opts some private schools into the free SHS programme instead of the double tracking system to be implemented in September.
The Double Track System will be similar to the semester mode of learning applicable in the universities at the SHS level, disclosed the Deputy Education Minister Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum will last for only seven years. With this system, each track will be in school for specific days for each semester and go on vacation and come back for the second semester.
Former President John Dramani Mahama and a litany of think tanks including IMANI Africa and ISODEC slammed the yet-to-be-introduced system as needless.
ISODEC, for instance, attributed lack of due diligence on the part of government before implementing the fee-free education policy as the cause of the current crisis the nation is experiencing at the SHS level.
“The speed with which government is trying to introduce the two-track SHS system i.e. two months from now, without any meaningful broad stakeholder consultations in consonance with the principles of good governance is worrying,” a statement signed by Dr Steve Manteaw stated.
A total of 362,118 first-year students from public Senior High Schools across the country are currently benefiting from the government’s fee-free education policy since its inception. Of the above figure, 117,692 are day students with 244,426 being boarders.
Based on last year’s enrolment, the government has projected enrolment figures for 2018 to stand at 472,730 against available seats of 290, 737 leaving a gap of 181, 993 to be created in order to accommodate the expected number of enrolment.
The double tracking system is therefore aimed at accommodating the increasing figures.
Disclosing that the system will last for only seven years, Dr Adutwum said the period will be used to address the accommodation challenges in the various SHSs after which the schools will revert to the normal education calendar.
“This is a stop-gap measure, even in all countries that have used it. As I speak with you we are securing 500 million dollars to complete all Getfund uncompleted buildings that are at the 70 per cent completion level.
“So within a short period we will build so many schools then calendars will revert…we believe that within 5-7 years we would have done a lot of construction that will enable us to go back to the regular calendar,” Dr Adutwum told Ultimate FM’s, Isaac Bediako Justice.
“It doesn’t make sense,” the President of IMANI Africa Franklin Cudjoe told Francis Abban on Morning Starr.
Speaking to Starr News, the General Secretary of CHOPSS, Joseph Dzamesi stated that claims that private second cycle schools lack the needed quality to be engaged by the government are misguided.
He said, “All the 250 private Senior High School in this country have all gone through a trip year accreditation process” and that if their teachers are not qualified the Ghana Education Service will not accredit them to run as an SHS neither will WAEC approve their participation in the WASSCE exams.”
He said they are ever ready to partner with the government in the implementation of the free SHS programme to ease the infrastructural burden on public schools, saying “look at the basic sector, the top schools are all private schools. In fact, when you take all the top Senior High Schools in this country, the so-called top Schools find out how many percentages of students there came from the private basic schools. It is close to ninety per cent.”
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
