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| Alex Kyeremeh |
The Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Pre-Tertiary Education, Alex Kyeremeh, has announced that, the ministry will soon publish the approved fees for all Public second cycle schools for the 2014/2015 academic year.
The publication which will be carried on all major media platforms, according to the deputy minister is to safeguard parents and guardians from paying unapproved fees, which some school Heads in the country have been charging first year students.
‘We will be tough on school heads who charge unapproved fees… Education should not be the preserve of a privileged few but affordable to all’ he stated and appealed to all stakeholders including chiefs report any recalcitrant school head for the necessary sanction to be applied.
Mr. Kyeremeh who is also the MP for Techiman North was speaking at Kpeve in the Volta region, during the commissioning of an ultra-modern office complex for the South Dayi District Education Directorate, constructed at the cost of 800 thousand Ghana cedis with funding from Department for International Development (DFID).
He also noted that, measures are in place to ensure prudent utilization of the recent 156 million dollars World Bank loan facility acquired to build 23 new Senior High Schools, upgrade 125 existing schools and provide scholarship to over 10-thousand poor students from deprived communities in the country.
As parts of the measures, he said an independent fund administrator will be appointed to liaise with communities in selecting eligible beneficiaries.
On the issue of using part of the money to supply sanitary pads for female students, the Deputy Minister explained that government will not buy the pads and distribute, but instead the money will be given to such students to buy what will keep them in school and their eligibility for the next trench will be based on a proof of purchase.
The Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Francis Ganyaglo on his part asked education officers to strengthen monitoring and supervision in the schools so as to improve the quality of education delivery in the area. He also urged the stakeholders to cultivate proper maintenance culture to safeguard the life span of the building.
The South Dayi district, according to a speech read on behalf of the outgoing District Director of Education, Mrs. Veronica Adzato-Ntem, is ranked the second in the Volta region at 2013 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), after being first consecutively in the 2011 and 2012.
While commending government for the edifice, she also appealed for the provision of computers to facilitate the work of the directorate and also assured that the edifice will be properly maintained.