MoE begs private schools to reduce school fees amid hardship

The Ministry in charge of Education citing the current economic hardship in the country has urged private schools across the country to reduce their ‘overpriced’ school fees for this academic year to lessen the burden on parents.

A spokesman for the Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng in a discussion monitored by AcademicWeek said the Education Ministry acknowledges the efforts of private schools in the education sector however their school fees should be reduced.

“The Ministry of Education appreciate the contribution of private schools to the education sector, their commitment to support the government is recommendable but we urge them to reduce their school fees,” Kwasi Kwarteng said.

Meanwhile, the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has attributed the sudden increase in this academic year’s school fees of private schools across the country to the rising cost of educational materials.

Executive Director of GNACOPS, Enoch Gyetuah explaining the school fees increase on the Citi Breakfast show said “the Constitution made it clear that the private schools enjoy the rights of establishment and rights of maintenance.

We have feeding fees, schools, operational costs, teachers’ allowances, tables and chairs, and learning materials to take care of. When the dollar came down, we informed the schools to do re-adjustment by way of contacting the service providers to let us know their position

“The feedback we got from the schools and the service providers was that most of the service providers had already ordered their materials. Textbook issues have increased the school fees not necessarily the tuition fee and all other aspects.

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.