Review 30% priority placement into Category ‘A’ schools – GNAPS

The Eastern Regional Chairman of the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), Michael Adjei Sakyi, has called on the government to review the 30 percent priority placement system, which reserves for public schools 30 percent of all available vacancies in Category "A' schools before the rest of the 70 percent vacancies are allocated on merit to both public and private schools.

This practice, he indicated, together with other teething problems faced by private schools, is collapsing the private school sector.

Mr Sakyi made the call at a private education stakeholder engagement organised by GNAPS in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional Capital.

The private education stakeholder engagement focused on leveraging the potential in the private education space to attain quality and holistic education.

Mr Sakyi urged the government to review the policy to keep private schools running.

The Director in Charge of Licencing of Teachers at the National Teaching Council (NTC), Francis Addai, addressing the participants, noted that the Education Regulatory Bodies Act 2020, Act 1023, mandates the NTC to register and license all teachers in the country.

He noted that the law prohibits the engagement of non-professional teachers, adding that the Act makes provision for such persons to train and receive certification.

Mr Addai noted that the NTC has trained about 4,720 teachers in the Greater Accra Region and has started issuing licenses to them.

The New Juaben North Municipal Chief Executive, Dr Asante Antwi, urged teachers without the requisite qualifications to endeavour to acquire them in order to ensure quality education delivery in the region.

The participants include representatives from GES, the National Schools Inspectorate Authority, heads of institutions, politicians, pupils and teachers, and school owners, among others.

Some of the pupils carried placards, some of which read, "Stop the discrimination, private schools matter," "High government charges kill private schools," "Private schools are partners, not competitors", and "Private schools demand justice and equity, not charity", among others.