Free SHS collapsing private schools – CHOPSS

The Conference of Heads (Proprietors ) of Private Second Cycle Schools (CHOPSS) has indicated that 50% of Private Senior High Schools in Ghana will fold up in the next four years should the current implementation procedure of Free Senior High School Policy continue.

Currently there are 280 Private Second Cycle Institutions recognized by the Ghana Education Service and West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) which collectively enrol about 50,000 students and provide employment for 10,000 teachers but the exclusion of the Private schools from the Free SHS Policy has drastically reduced the population of these private schools.

This has negatively affected the Private Institutions putting them at risk of collapsing.

The National President of CHOPSS, Mr. I.K Mensah, made this known on Friday in Koforidua during the opening ceremony of the Annual General Conference, 2017.

The conference was on the theme: “Partnership in the Delivery of Quality Education in Ghana -The role of Private Schools.”

He said though CHOPSS commends government for the implementation of the Free SHS Policy, the implementation is discriminatory and unfortunate despite the fact that 70% of well performed BECE students posted to the Public Senior High Schools are from the Private basic Schools adding that even students trained in private schools do not have the opportunity to continue their SHS education in Senior High School of the same institution.

He said, government must extend free SHS to private schools by just paying for grants for beneficiaries posted to private SHSs.

CHOPSS is anticipating that, government will consider its proposals submitted to the Ministry of Education to include Private Second Cycle Schools in the next phase of implementation.

A deputy Minister of Education Barbara Ayisi in a speech read on behalf of the Sector Minister, Mathew Opoku Prempeh said government is considering the proposals tabled by CHOPSS on the Free SHS policy and will seriously consider the possibilities for closer partnership in the future.

The Minister assured private Schools in Ghana that, the NPP government has no intention to collapse private Second Cycle institution but charged proprietors to find more innovative ways to make them remain competitive.