242,000 SHS students in Limbo

IN SPITE of assurances by the Ministry of Education that intake in to the Senior High School for the next academic year would be smooth, TRUTH can authoritatively say that the September deadline for the provision of classrooms cannot be met.

Eight contractors have just been awarded contracts for the construction of classroom blocks for 170 schools out of the 400 across the country.

The government has since last week released contracts agreements signed by the Minister of education to the contractors including Global Greenbelt, Even Solomon, ABM Structures, Waltech and Solaqua. The Ministry of education has said GH¢100 million would be released from GETFund for the construction of classroom blocks after it settled for 4 year duration for the SHS.

While Global Greenbelt constructs classrooms for 50 schools, each of the remaining four companies would provide classrooms for 30 schools using External-Poly Exterine (EPS) quick built Technology at GH¢159,000 per 6-unit block of classroom. The other three contractors of the eight, whose particulars were not immediately known, are to use conventional methods of building classroom at higher contract sums.

All projects are to be handed over for inspection within 16 weeks but TRUTH has gathered that non of the contractors has broken grounds yet.

The contractors after study, have reacted to some clauses of the contract agreement which are considered unfavourable. For instance, the contractors who are risking pre-financing the projects would not be paid interest accruing from non-payment of contract. There is a clause which also states that payments would be made 28 days after handing over the projects to the government which very clause has been rendered ineffective by another clause which says payment would be done after 56 weeks.

It is also a condition for contractors to finish two out of the assigned number of classrooms for inspection and approval. In spite of a reaction through an addendum to the government by the contactors, some of them are taking the risk to access funds through their bankers in order to move to building sites with materials.

It is also not known which contractors would be proving the bulk of classrooms for the remaining 230 schools.

In the face of the constraints, the fate of about 242,000 students expected to be admitted into the SHS in September 2010 hangs in the balance. They might be compelled to wait until infrastructure is ready, perhaps three months from now, if construction would begin soon.