Rescind your decision to dismiss our children – Parents tell GICA management
Parents with wards at GIU Christian Academy (GICA) in Accra are calling on the management of the school to rescind its decision to dismiss their wards for failing to pay their fees.
According to the aggrieved parents, the school issued a letter titled “Letter of Re-enrollment” which states that their wards cease to be students of GIU because they failed to comply with a directive from the school for unpaid fees by a certain date.
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The parents in a petition to the school issued on Friday, September 25, said the letter is illegal and an affront to the directive of President Akufo-Addo on the timelines for re-opening of schools.
They have therefore given the school up to September 30, 2020 to withdraw such an “illegal letter”.
Below is the parents' letter in full.
PETITION CALLING ON GIU CHRISTIAN ACADEMY TO WITHDRAW LETTER OF REENROLLMENT AND ENGAGE PARENTS ON THE ONLINE PROGRAMME IN RESPECT OF MODELS TO TEACH AND FEES AS THEY WAIT FOR SCHOOL TO RESUME IN JANUARY 2021.
We, the undersigned, are parents with wards at GIU Christian Academy (GICA) . Indeed, some of us have had wards in the school for as long as decade! Before enrolling our wards, we were made to pay admission fees, among others, which fees subsists for the period they are students of GIU.
Even though we have ever had issues with GICA in the past, we at all times remained compliant in the belief that things would improve. Recent pol ides and directives since the government imposed a lockdown as a result of which school was suspended, has compelled us (parents) to petition the school administration as follows:
- We urge GICA to withdraw the undated a11d open 'Letter of Re-enrollment' (see attached Exhibit A) sent to parents stating that their wards cease to be students of GIU because they failed to comply with a directive from the school for unpaid fees by a certain date. We deem this letter illegal and an affront to the directive of the
President of the Republic of Ghana on the timelines for re-opening of schools. We are therefore giving GICA up to September 30, 2020 to withdraw such illegal letter.
- GICA's reasons for charging full fees is unscientific and unreasonable, stating electricity, water bills and salaries of teachers as the underlining factors. We therefore urge GICA to, as a matter of urgency, engage parents on modalities and appropriate fees for the on line programme, which by our understanding, is a stopgap measure just to keep students busy and not a replacement of the re-scheduled school term. Parents can therefore not be expected to pay full term fees for this programme whiles it is not an in-school tuition. At best, the online programme should be voluntary and not be compulsorily foisted on parents some of whom have lost their jobs and income and are facing huge challenges in making available gadgets and data for their wards.
- The owners of GICA should cease forthwith making seemingly racist remarks about the mentality of Ghanaians, among others, and engage same positively in the interest of all stakeholders.
Cc.
Honourable Minister for Education
MP, Kpone Katamanso
The Commissioner, CHRAJ, Accra.
The Director, Pre-Tertiary Directorate, NIB, GES Head Office.
The Director, GES, Terna Municipal
The In-Charge, Ghana Police Service, Kpone Katamanso.
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