Parliament condemns high school fees

On May 10, 2011

The Parliamentary Accounts Committee has condemned the high school fees being charged in the North, which it said had the tendency of defeating the purpose of the free education policy of the Government.

The Committee said the high fees being charged by the educational authorities could throw a lot of students out of school and increase the cost of education.

Members noted that if parents could pay school fees as high as GH¢300, then there was no need for the Government to continue its free educational policy to the area.

The committee made this revelation in Tamale on Monday after an encounter with some schools captured by the Auditor General’s Report from 2004 to 2007.

It will be sitting for three days in Tamale to examine the accounts of 42 pre-tertiary schools in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.

Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Chairman of the Committee urged public institutions to abide by the legal and professional accounting principles when handling public funds.

He said the heads of these institutions would be answering questions relating to lapses in expenditure and possibly face sanctions.

First to appear before the 45-member committee was the Navrongo Senior High School where the Headmaster Mr Patrick Tangoyire was blamed for his inability to retrieve text books release to students.

In response the Headmaster said almost all the books had been retrieved remaining 35.

The Bawku Technical Institution was blamed for charging ridiculous and high school fees of GHc300 which the committee observed most parents could not afford.

However, the Headmaster, Mr Linus Gamour Tuuli said the fees and levies were approved by the Ghana Education Service.

He said the fees were approved during the last meeting of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools.

The Bawku Technical Institute was also blamed for its failure to submit its audit reports of 2007 to the Auditor General.

Some of the school heads were held responsible for making payments without supporting documents.

Source: GNA