“Borrowing is no big deal” - President tells special schools

The President of the conference of heads of special schools Gayhart Charles Gbekle has told heads of special schools to remain in credit management mode as government works out a settlement for months of unpaid subventions.

Government owes these schools varied months of unpaid utility and feeding grants.

The situation had become dire as school heads complained of receiving threats from angry creditors.

Some special schools were compelled to turn away children with disability who reported to school on Tuesday from vacation.

However speaking to Ultimate Radio, Mr. Gbekle directed that the school heads reopen school as scheduled as government would “make payments to their accounts latest by tomorrow or next week.”

He stated that: “no school has the right to turn away pupils, and I am appealing to all parents and stakeholders to send our children with disabilities to the various schools.”

He noted that there was “no big deal” about borrowing, and that “school heads as administrators have to apply their managerial skills to keep in the good books of their creditors” while central government works to pay grants.”

He added that if that failed, they have to go to the district or municipal director of education; the DCE or the MCE.

“When this fails, then you go to the regional office and when this fails you go to the headquarters,” he explained.

The issues of subventions to these schools that house and train the nation’s children with disabilities seem to be attaining a terminal ritual stage.

In May this year, the schools weren’t able to reopen on time because government had not yet settled its arrears of meager sums of subventions to these schools.

As priorities for government continue to shift on a daily basis, one would expect that Civil and Human Right Institutions and relevant state authorities like the Gender and Social Protection Ministry will push that Social Interventions and Pro - Poor Programs as important as special schools are not further shoved off the social inclusion ladder.