Stop taking illegal fees - Mahama warns school heads

President Mahama has issued a strong warning to heads of second cycle schools who continue to charge unapproved fees to put an immediate stop to it or risk being sacked.

According him, such fees put extra burden on parents, thus making nonsense of government’s efforts of providing affordable and accessible education for every citizen.

He has therefore directed officers of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to embark on a nationwide exercise to bring out such recalcitrant headmasters for sanctioning.

President Mahama gave the warning at the inauguration of the Nkwanta Community Day Senior High School in the Nkwanta South District of the Volta region Wednesday.

“Recently someone brought the fees of one of the schools to me and they are charging 10 cedis a term as incentive fees.

"Such fees are not approved by ministry of education, it's illegal. I have asked the ministry of education that headmasters charging such fees and their district directors should be sanctioned, because the directors cannot plead innocence of such illegality.”

“We're going to embark on a nationwide exercise, I have asked all district BNI officers to go round and check the fees of every school and any headmaster caught charging illegal fees will be sacked,” the president said.

The New Nkwanta Community Day Senior High School, is the third to be commissioned by the president in fulfillment of his government’s promise to construct 200-day schools nationwide.

President Mahama who is climaxing his ‘changing lives, transforming Ghana’ tour in the Volta region, is hopeful the completion of the 200-day schools by the end of next year will take off the pressure on existing senior high schools, due to the computerized schools selection and placement system.