‘CHASS does not collect illegal fees’
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) has appealed to the government and the Ministry of Education (MOE) to desist from making statements that create the impression that the heads of these schools are collecting illegal levies in their various schools or collecting fees above what has been approved by the government.
Advertisement
It said even though there might be some heads who might have violated the policies of governments regarding collection of fees, majority of them were going according to the government’s guidelines in fees collection, pointing out that the government had the right to coordinate and control the system to avoid unjustified exploitation but certain open pronouncements must be done with a bit of caution.
According to CHASS, it was becoming more difficult to run the senior high schools with limited inputs and it was high time government appreciated their plight and stopped what it called ‘unnecessary criticisms and name calling’.
The National Secretary of CHASS and Headmaster of Asesewa Senior High School, Mr Samuel Gyebi Yeboah, and the Welfare Officer of the Eastern Regional CHASS, who is also the Headmaster of Attafuah Senior High Technical School at Akim Oda, Mr Johnson Yeboah Gyekye, jointly made the remarks at a send-off programme for the Headmaster of the Yilo Krobo Senior High Commercial School (YIKROSEC), Mr Matthew L. Bawah, at Somanya in the Eastern Region.
Government’s impression
According to CHASS, the impression being created by the government and the Ministry of Education that heads of senior high schools had been collecting illegal fees made it difficult for parents to pay their children’s fees, and that worsened their plight as managers of the country’s public senior high schools.
“The government and the ministry need to do proper investigations on certain issues regarding collection of monies in the senior high schools before going public to accuse heads.
“Sometimes the statement that tends to describe heads as cheats, bullies and insensitive to the plight of parents, among others, are hurtful since we are also parents in one way or another,” the heads added.
They also advised the government to exercise restraint and contact the districts, municipal, metropolitan and regional directorates of education for verification on certain issues before coming out publicly with criticisms, adding that much as government criticised its members, the association should also be praised for its good performance in the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results over the years.
