Proprietor says private schools may collapse

Private Senior High Schools have expressed worry over possible closure due to their in ability to get students.

Mr. Abdullah Nsiah, Proprietor of the Takoradi High School, said the decision by the Ghana Education Service (GES) to increase the entry point into Senior High School could collapse private schools.

Mr Nsiah, in the company of proprietors of some Private Schools within the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, expressed the concern in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Takoradi.

The group argued that their contribution to education over the last decade had been enormous and that such a decision by the GES to place all students under the computerized school selection and placement system could frustrate the efforts of the private sector in education.

Mr. Nsiah said, unlike previous years when Takoradi High School  recorded  student enrolment of over 700 students every academic year, the school now has an average enrolment of seven with its current population standing at 160 as against 700 in previous years.

The current trend, according to the proprietor, if not checked, could stifle private investment in education.

Mr. Nsiah said the private educational sector had come to lighten government’s burden in terms of providing tuition and infrastructure.

He said it would be appropriate for the GES to allocate a quota to  private senior high schools to ensure that they stayed in business.

Source: GNA