By: Frank Kwame Abbor| ignewss|
Information gathered by Inside Ghana News Service (IGNEWSS) in some part of the country has it that, some Senior High Schools (SHS) in Ghana are going through financial stress.
Government of Ghana started free Senior High Schools program in the year 2017 and sources says, Senior High Schools in Ghana are now on the crossroad because the day to day running of the schools is becoming more of a headache.
This is attributed to government being the sole financier for all schools in the country and is facing economic meltdown.
During 2021/2022 academic year, government made some payment to the schools for perishables goods such as tomatoes, onions, green leaves (kontonmire), pepper among others but many said the funds are inadequate.
For perishable food items, sources noted that 36.2% of funds were allocated and released for the current form one students, 0% for form two’s and 51% out of the 100% for the form threes.
The above figures show how difficult it is to feed adolescence students in the current economic situation where the country is experiencing price hikes on commodities.
When it comes to recurrent funds meant for daily expenses of the school such as stationaries, bulbs, fuel for the school vehicle, utility bills, administrative cost and others, they said government has not paid anything to the schools for the past 2 years.
Speaking to some school authorities, they lamented on the cost of running the schools and even catering for examination material.
“Due to this situation, many schools cannot even conduct examination for students. Honestly, there is no fund to cater for the typing and printing of exam questions thereby resulting in writing the questions on the board by hand for students.”
Some underscored that, kitchen staff have to go to the bush to fetch firewood to cook for the school resulting in delay in the students dinning time.
“We have been struggling to manage the school financially” Some sources stated.
Source: www.ignewss.com|Ghana