GES approves new feeding fee

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has approved a new feeding fee of GH¢1.80 per day for boarding students in senior high schools, following a request by the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) for an upward review of the old fee of GH¢1.40 per student per day.

With the approval, the new fees for boarding students will be GH¢328.70 while day students will pay GH¢160.70. In the case of foreign students, they will pay GH¢468.72.

The new fees exclude the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) levies charged by schools but take care of provision of two sets of uniforms, two sets of house dresses, a house jersey, admission fee, Students Representative Council dues, and Science Resource Centre dues.

The President of CHASS, Mr Samuel Ofori-Adjei, told the Daily Graphic in Accra Sunday that although the conference had wanted GH¢2 per student per day, “we would manage with the GH¢1.80”.

He explained that the feeding fee was not only for the feeding of students, but also used for the purchase of gas for cooking, transportation of foodstuffs to the various schools and the repair and replacement of kitchen items.

He suggested that in future the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ministry of Health should be involved in the process to determine what went into the feeding of students to ensure that it was comprehensively done.

On the issue of admission list, Mr Ofori-Adjei said the various senior high schools had received the list of first year students from the GES.

In Accra Academy for instance, where he is the headmaster, he said, more than 300 parents had already picked their children's prospectus with the remaining 200 expected to pick their prospectus this week.

The CHASS President said although the GES had asked first year students to report at school on October 31, 2011, the school authorities had given the students up to November 4, 2011 to report. That, he said, was in view of the late arrival of the list of students from the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) Secretariat.

Concerning academic activities for the first year students, he said a contingency plan had been put in place to make up for six weeks already lost in the first term for the fresh students, adding that first year students would be made to come before the continuing students when school reopened for the second term.

In addition, he said, the first year students would be made to stay a little while during the Easter break, all with the aim of making them to cover the period lost.

He said for the three-year senior high school programme, nine terms' work was actually done in six terms.