Last Saturday, the government cautioned heads of senior high schools (SHSs) over unapproved fees, with threats of sanctions if they failed to charge only Ghana Education Service (GES) stipulated fees.
Mr Alex Kofi Kyeremeh, the Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Pre-tertiary Education, who gave the caution during a durbar to climax the year-long Golden Jubilee of the Techiman SHS in Techiman in the Brong-Ahafo Region, stated that "current GES approved fee for boarding students is GH¢437, while that of day students is GH¢230".
The deputy minister said some headmasters and headmistresses were collecting as much as GH¢1,500 or more as fees.
Indeed, while that is frightening and must be cause for concern for all parents, we believe a horse-shoe budget, as the government has proposed, can do very little to solve the problem.
Schools, by all means, have to be run and it takes more than the fees suggested by the GES to effectively run a school.
That is, however, not to suggest that the activities of agents who connive with some schools as alleged by the deputy minister, must not be investigated.
Indeed, if it is proven that some school heads, especially in the Ashanti and Central regions, have engaged the activities of agents to charge illegal fees, both parties (that is, the heads and the parents) must be charged for engaging in corrupt practices.
The Daily Graphic believes what is needed to halt the annual ritual of parents clamouring for spaces for their children and thereby creating a breeding ground for corruption, is a demystified schools selection process which the computerised placement system has not been able to solve.
It has rather created loopholes for crooks and greedy officials to exploit, to the detriment of unsuspecting parents.
The GES must come up with a clear-cut policy to guide how our institutions must be run, so that those institutions are not forced to close down due to the lack of funds.
Already, some schools have had to be closed due to the delay or cuts in government subsidies.
The Daily Graphic also believes that parents, who are major stakeholders in education, must be factored into any guidelines that the GES may come up with to solve the problem.
Much as we think that parents, as well as their children, must not suffer unduly in their quest for education, we believe the GES and all in the educational sector owe Ghanaians a duty to make education in the country one that is pleasurable and not fraught with deficiencies that tend to undermine quality education.
