83 Northern schools not to reopen
Eighty-three senior high schools in the three northern regions will not reopen when school resumes on Monday, January 13, 2014, as a result of arrears in feeding fees and subsidies owed them by the government.
Advertisement
The schools include 44 SHSs in the Northern Region; 23 in the Upper East Region and 16 in the Upper West Region.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in the Northern Region, Alhaji Tahiru Abdul-Rahman Mahama, said CHASS had written to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to officially inform them about their grievances.
He stated that the feeding subsidies were in arrears for two terms, adding, “we have not received our feeding subsidies for the third term of the 2012/2013 academic year and the first term of the 2013/2014 academic year”.
The failure of the government to pay the arrears, he said, had affected academic work in most of the secondary schools, especially those with boarding facilities.
Alhaji Mahama also said all the SHSs in the three northern regions owed their suppliers, a situation that had compelled the suppliers to discontinue their credit supplies to the schools.
According to him, the general subsidies paid to SHSs were also in arrears and that had affected the payment of their bills.
“If the government is able to pay the feeding arrears before school reopens, then we shall open the schools when we resume Monday, next week.”
CHASS President
The President of CHASS, Mr Samuel Ofori-Adjei, also said the government had not paid the subsidies for two terms—the third term of the 2012/2013 academic year and the first term of the 2013/2014 academic year.
“The arrears have affected the effective administration of the schools across the country,” he said.
He appealed to the government and the GES to make the necessary payments to ensure the smooth running of the schools.
