The Ministry of Education has said former President John Mahama goofed when he suggested that only 30 percent of funds allocated to the free SHS policy hit the accounts of Senior High Schools (SHS) in the country.
Mr Mahama at a meeting with some former Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) indicted the government for paying only 30 percent of the funds meant for the first-year implementation of the Free SHS programme.
“…It’s like the government is just as I said ‘governance-as-you-go’ adhoc decisions, all initiatives like free SHS, no policy guideline, and, as of now, the information we have is that for the first year, only 30% of the money that should have been paid to the schools has been paid, 70% has not been paid,” Mr Mahama had claimed.
However speaking to Citi News, Head of Public Relations at the Education Ministry, Vincent Ekow Assafuah said Mr Mahama got his figures wrong.
“Mr Mahama got it wrong because he failed to check his facts before making that public pronouncement. There is a clear-cut implementation plan for the free SHS programme and how money is disbursed. I expected that as a statesman he should have been able to do due diligence to some of these facts before making some of these allegations.”
The statement below clarifies the Education Ministry’s stance
Re: Mahama claims
It has come to the attention of the Ministry of Education certain claims made by the Former President of the Republic, Mr John Mahama, indicating that Government has only honoured 30% of Free SHS payments to the Senior High School. It has become necessary to set the records straight.
The Government, through the Ministry of Education, makes 79.5% central payments and only 20.5% are paid directly to the schools.
To protect the public purse by ensuring maximum gains through economies of scale, the Ministry of Education, CHASS and the office of the Minister of State in Charge of Public Procurement agreed to undertake procurement at these levels;
i. Centralized Procurement
ii. School Level Procurement (to be paid Centrally)
iii. School Level Procurement ( to be paid at the school level)
iv. Food Procurement ( School/Buffer Stock)
Centralized Procurement (Paid Centrally)
1. Exercise Books
2. Textbooks
3. Supplementary Readers/Core Literature Books
4. P. E Kits
5. Notebooks
6. Technical Drawing Instruments (TVET only)
7. Technical Drawing Board and Tee Square (TVET only)
School Level Procurement ( Paid for Centrally)
1. School Uniform
2. School Cloth
3. House Dress
School Level Procurement ( Paid for at School Level)
1. Procurement of perishable food items.
2. Food Procurement (School/Buffer Stock)
3. Food supplied by Buffer Stock Company to Boarding Schools.
Food Vendors for strictly Day Schools.
ABSORBED FEES
1.Fees payable for first-year students such as
a. Admission fees
b. Maintenance fees
c. Cumulative Examination fees
d. 2 sets of School Uniform
e. 2 sets of House Dress
f. School Cloth
g. P.E Kits
h. 9 Exercise Books
i. 4 Note Books
j. 1 Supplementary/3 Core Literature English Books.
2. All recurring fees items including and not exclusively
a. Examination fees
b. Library fees
c. Practical fees
d. Utilities
e. Entertainment fees
f. Science Development
3. Teacher Motivation: Teacher Motivation: GHS 20 paid out of PTA Dues of GHS 25 per student yearly.
4. Feeding fees: 3 meals daily for Borders and one hot meal for Day Students.
5. Core Textbooks: Provision of the full complement of all recommended textbooks for first-year students.
Subsidies: for all continuing students (form 2 & 3)
Ekow Vincent Assafuah,
Head of Public Relations Unit,
Ministry of Education.
–
By: Marian Ansah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
