Governments asked not to play politics with education-GNAPS President

Apam (C/R), Mar. 1, GNA-The National President of the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), Mr Godwin Sowah, has urged politicians not to jeopardise the future children by playing politics with education.

He said the changes in the duration of Senior High Schools by past and present governments are not in the best interest of children. Mr Sowah made the call at a forum organised by the Gomoa West District branch of the Association at Apam as part of its week celebration. He expressed dissatisfaction about the way children in private schools were denied financial support from the Capitation Grant, as well as their exclusion from the school feeding programme, free uniforms and the free supply of textbooks.

Mr Sowah therefore called for a change in that situation, saying that "such unfriendly policies were causing some private schools to close down". Mr Fred Dunyoh, Gomoa West District Director of Education, appealed to proprietors of private schools to register with the Ghana Education Service to enable them to receive learning and teaching materials from the government.

He suggested to private school owners to engage retired professional teachers to enable their schools to benefit from their rich experiences. The chief of Apam, Nana Effrim X, who chaired the function, said education was the best "property" parents could bequeathe to their children. Nana Effrim promised to personally offer scholarships to some children from the town who would obtain between aggregates 6 and 10 in the 2010 BECE examination.