Review Free SHS policy now – CHASS to govt

The Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) has called for an immediate review of the Free Senior High School policy.

The conference holds the view that the policy implementation that started three years ago has resulted in the collapse of Parent Teachers Associations in schools across the country which is responsible for many abandoned projects and support for schools.

Speaking at the 5th annual conference of CHASS at Wesley Girls SHS in Cape Cape, the President of CHASS Yakubu Abubakar asked the Ghana Education Service and relevant stakeholders to look at the possibility of reversing that part of the policy to enable school authorities discharge their duties effectively.

“Our observation over the period is that PTA activities are gradually dying in our schools. Hitherto, the PTAs were playing very significant roles in our schools. If a policy is in place and for the past three years it is not working then it needs to be relooked at. No wonder you go to many schools and you see PTA abandoned projects at various levels. At present, even though there are delays in the release of funds, schools do not have the leverage like PTA to assist them and so making the effective administration of schools problematic. After three years of the implementation of the Free SHS policy, CHASS is calling for a review of the policy.”

The Conference, further called for a review of the portion of feeding grant given to schools for perishables to be increased from 30% to a minimum of 40%.