Parents in Upper East complains of high school fees

Bolgatanga, Nov. 12, GNA - Some parents in the Upper East Region have expressed concern about recent school fee hikes considering the impoverished nature of the area and high poverty levels of parents. A fee of 300 Ghana cedis charged by senior high schools in the Region was thus considered too high for parents who insist they cannot afford. The parents complained when the Minister of Information, Mr John Tia Akologu, visited some districts to explain government policies and programmes to them.

At Bolgatanga Assembly, the Assemblymen including a cross section of the public who attended the forum complained about the increment in school fees and said during the last academic year the fee was 150 Ghana cedis and wondered why it should be increased by such a margin. The situation was not different from the Bongo District and the Talensi Nabdam District where people expressed the same sentiment. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency Mr. Adongo Apambila, a peasant farmer said "I cannot afford to pay my daughter's school fees even though she got good grades to senior high school. My two brothers are also in the same situation," he said.

The Paramount Chief of Bongo Traditional Area, Naba Baba Salifu Aleemyaroom, said many parents had come to him to complain and asked for assistance to pay their children's fees but he could not help. He said if the situation was not reversed many children's education in the area would be jeopardized.

"The imposition of such high fees by the Conference of Heads of Senior High Schools (CHASS) is not the best considering the deprived nature of the Region."

Naba Baba Salifu Aleemyaroom said one of the strategies that could be used to address poverty in the area was education and questioned what would happen to the future of the region when most children drop out of school as a result of poverty.

He said education at every level should be seen as a right and not a privilege adding that parents could not affo rd to send their children to SHSs let alone to the tertiary level. The Chief said the situation was getting worse with girls as many of them get pregnant and others are forced into marriages whilst at home because their parents could not afford to pay their schools fees. He appealed to the government to review school fees of SHSs in the area to enable parents to send their children to SHSs. The Minister of Information, Mr John Tia Akolgo, said he would liaise with the Ghana Education Service and the appropriate authorities to see how they could resolve the problem. 12 Nov 10