GES suspends head over illegal fees
The Ghana Education Service (GES) has taken a major step to check the charging of illegal fees in senior high schools (SHSs) by suspending one headmaster and reprimanding 10 others in the Ashanti Region.
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The headmaster of Toase Senior High School, Mr Annor Yeboah, was indefinitely suspended and asked to hand over to the regional director of education with immediate effect.
Those who were reprimanded included the heads of Opoku Ware, Prempeh, Yaa Asantewaa Girls, St Louis, Kumasi High and Aduman senior high schools.
The rest are: Okomfo Anokye, Asanteman, Dwamena Akenten and Osei Kyeretwie.
The assistant headmaster of St. Louis SHS and the accountant of the school have also been transferred.
A letter signed by the Regional Director of Education, Mr Kofi Sarfo Kantanka, said the decision was to restore sanity in the administration of schools in the region.
It indicated that in spite of charging illegal fees, Mr Annor Yeboah had the impudence to tell authorities who were on a fact-finding mission to the school that there was nothing he could do to rectify the unapproved fees charged.
Heads of schools who were reprimanded have been asked to credit the accounts of students who had paid more than the approved fees by November 26, 3013 or face severe sanctions.
They have also been directed to write letters of apology to the Minister of Education and send copies to the Director-General of Education and the regional minister.
Some parents recently complained about the exorbitant fees charged by schools in the Ashanti Region, which compelled the Ministry of Education and the GES to initiate investigations into the allegations.
It was revealed that some schools were charging between GH¢1,000 and Gh¢1,500 per term instead of the government approved fee of GH¢437 for boarding students. Disturbed by the development, the regional director of education periodically went on local radio stations to warn headmasters to desist from the practice or face sanctions.
The warning fell on deaf ears, compelling a team led by the Deputy Minister in charge of Pre-tertiary Institutions, Mr Alex Kyeremah, and the Deputy Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Yaw Adusei, to go round the various senior high schools in the region to ascertain the situation. Their observation compelled the GES to act swiftly to save parents from further exploitation.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic later, the regional director said everything was being done to instill discipline in the management of schools and added that the GES would not compromise its stance on the charging of unapproved fees. He, therefore, warned heads of schools to act appropriately.
Attempts to contact Mr Annor Yeboah on phone proved futile as he did not pick the calls from the Daily Graphic.
