NBSSI not paying us agreed stimulus package – Private schools allege

The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has said the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) is refusing to disburse to them the agreed loan amounts in the stimulus package.

According to the Council, members are mostly given a small fraction of amounts that they request.

Addressing the press at a news conference in Accra on Monday, a researcher with GNACOPS, Moses Braimah described the situation as worrying.

“What we mean is that, after we had submitted our applications and went through the processes, we went to the NSSBI to find out that we are only receiving 1% of the stated amount,” he said.

The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) in September said it had approval to disburse stimulus packages to over 1,000 private schools in Ghana to support them in the wake of the Coronavirus.

But speaking at Monday’s event, Moses Braimah further explained that some of the schools had rejected offers from their respective bankers on the basis of the expected bailout by the NSSBI, only to be greeted by these meagre amounts which he said reek of ‘disrespect.’

GNACOPS is therefore appealing to the Presidency to intervene so they do not collapse.

“The collapse of the private schools will jeopardise the system and make the educational system non-functional,” he said, considering the infrastructural deficits which they compensate for, as far as public education in Ghana is concerned.

He also called on the Education Ministry to support the private schools in this cause.