No extra funds to increase capitation grant - Baah-Wiredu

Accra, Aug. 8, GNA - The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu on Tuesday said demands for an increase of the capitation grant was welcomed but the source of the extra funding was a matter of concern.

He said the Government was aware of the demands and wished it could increase the amount, but was not able to take the decision because there was no other source to raise the money.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Baah-Wiredu explained that the 30,000 cedis capitation grant to basic schools was derived from the Social Impact Mitigating Levy, which provided a total of 133 billion cedis.

The same levy, he said, also provided for the school feeding programme, free ride for mass transit buses for schools and a number of housing projects currently underway across the country.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said during the last debate on the matter in Parliament last month, he indicated that it was not possible to increase or source any other fund from any of the other price build-ups within the petroleum pricing mechanism.

He said basic education was at the heart of the Government's business and that it would do well to make basic school enrolment efficient.

Government introduced the capitation grant last year as a means of boosting basic school enrolments and making basic school education accessible to the larger section of the population.

Heads of public basic schools overwhelmed by the increasing numbers of school enrolment on Monday called for an increase in the capitation grant from 30,000 cedis to 60,000 cedis arguing that the current figure was "woefully inadequate" forcing school heads to "over-economise their budgets".

The heads noted that the 30,000 cedis grant could only cater for the cost of examinations with nothing left for administrative purposes. They also said they were forced to write examination questions on blackboards.