Govt to introduce Li for NaSIA to regulate private schools fees

The government is set to introduce a Li for the National Schools Inspectorate Authority (NaSIA) to control the private school fees charged during an academic term, the spokesman for the Ministry of Education, Kwasi Kwarteng has said.

Speaking in an interview monitored by AcademicWeek, Kwasi Kwarteng said the tabled Li will give the Schools Inspectorate Authority (NaSIA) the mandate to ensure private schools do not overprice their academic school fees.

“The central government has tabled a Li in parliament to give the National Schools Inspectorate Authority a mandate to check the amount charged by private schools across the country as school fees,” the Public Relations Officer said.

In the meantime, he said the Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum and the Registrar of NaSIA, Dr Hilda Ampadu are in talks with the leadership of the Private Schools Council for a reduction in private schools 2023 fees.

The Li pending approval comes after some parents of private school students citing the current economic crisis raised concerns about the high cost charged by the majority of private schools as the school fees for this academic term.

Sharing their worries on the Citi Breakfast Show, some of the parents said, “the money that I’m paying is huge. As I’m coming to work this morning, there was a lot of pressure on me,” a worried parent complained.

“My girl is going to JHS 3 now and the fees have been increased from GH¢1,800 to GH¢2,000. The other girl who is in lower primary is paying GH¢1,200 as against GH¢950. Feeding fees have also been increased, they also want to profiteer from the books that we are supposed to buy,” another parent fumed.

But, the National Director of the Private Schools Council reacting to parents’ concerns attributed the sudden increase in this academic year’s school fees of private schools across the country to the rising cost of educational materials.

Explaining the school fees increase on the Citi Breakfast show, the Council’s Director Enoch Kwasi Gyetuah said “the Constitution made it clear that the private schools enjoy the rights of establishment and rights of maintenance.

“Almost all the textbooks we use in Ghana are published and printed outside,” the Executive Director of the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS), Enoch Kwasi Gyetuah told the Accra-based television station.

As part of an effort to mitigate the burden on parents of private school students, the Private Schools Council Director said his outfit will meet with the National Parents Teachers Association to schedule a flexible payment plan for parents.

“We have actually come out with some form of negotiations that the private schools are to negotiate with their suppliers so that payment terms could be agreed upon,” Enoch Obengfo Gyetuah stated.