The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has released GH¢50.4 million for the payment of feeding grants for senior high schools in the three northern regions and the northern parts of the Brong Ahafo and Volta regions.
The money will cover the payment of arrears of feeding grants for the third term of the 2012-2013 academic year and the first term of the 2013-2014 academic year.
In addition, the Ministry of Finance has released GH¢31 million to the Scholarship Secretariat for the payment of outstanding arrears of scholarships of Ghanaian students studying abroad.
The Head of the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Education, Mr Paul Kofi Krampah, made this known to the Daily Graphic.
According to him, the ministry will continue to facilitate the early release of funds to schools to ensure smooth academic activities on the various campuses.
He expressed the hope that the schools and those abroad would get their money by next week following the release of the grants by government.
Delay in release of grants
Eighty-three senior high schools in the three northern regions last Monday, January 13, 2013, delayed reopening as a result of arrears in feeding fees and subsidies owed them by the government.
The schools included 44 SHSs in the Northern Region, 23 in the Upper East Region and 16 in the Upper West Region.
The President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in the Northern Region, Alhaji Tahiru Abdul-Rahman Mahama, had told the Daily Graphic that the conference 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 senior high 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.
