The Ghana National Council of Private Schools does not have the mandate to determine how much private schools should charge as fees, its Executive Director, Obenfo Nana Kwesi Gyetuah, has said.
He explained that Ghana operates a free-market economy and that the council’s regulatory mandate does not extend to determining the specific amount a private school should charge parents.
Speaking to Isaac Addae on Morning Starr, Obenfo Nana Kwesi Gyetuah said the council has areas within which it can regulate, but cannot determine issues outside its mandate.
“We have mandate to regulate, and there are basic ones. We have our jurisdiction, we have our mandate. Where our mandate do not, we don’t go there.”
He said the council does not determine the salaries of teachers in primary schools or school fees charged by private institutions.
Obenfo Nana Kwesi Gyetuah further referred to Article 25(2) of the 1982 Constitution, arguing that the constitutional provision protects the right of individuals to establish and maintain private schools at their own cost.
He said the council can sit on boards and make recommendations but cannot use its position to dictate the fees private schools should charge.
According to him, private schools also have to be mindful of how much they charge because excessive increases could result in parents withdrawing their children.
“Because if you don’t take care and you inflate your charges astronomically, parents will withdraw their children, and your school will collapse.”
Obenfo Nana Kwesi Gyetuah said there have been instances where schools have experienced such consequences, adding that he does not believe any reasonable school proprietor would deliberately increase charges to the point of driving parents away.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/Pamela Quayeson
