Mahama's fiat to standardize SHS fees is not workable - CHASS

The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) says it is impossible for all Senior High Schools across the country to charge the same fees.

At his first Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Presidential Evening Encounter two weeks ago President Mahama decried the wide gap in school fees among the various schools in the country and promised that he will tackle the situation.

President Mahama said some schools are charging levies such as AMA levy and Worker Motivation Fee and that “the directive is for the GES to standardize the fees.”

According to the President, the schools fees will be heavily subsidized by government to ensure that all students across the country pay the same amount, stressing “fees must be the same in every secondary school in this country.” But speaking to XYZ News the National President of CHASS, Samuel Ofori-Adjei, said the president’s proposal is too simplistic.

Mr Ofori-Adjei says different schools have different needs. He said government must “look at the individual schools and what they stand for. Because if we don’t do it that way and we want to generalise, it is not possible.”

He said a place such as Mfantsipim School has peculiar needs that must be addressed and taking away the right of the schools to charge extra on the government approved fees will only stifle the schools.