Schools Appeal For Support To Sustain FREE SHS Programme

Ho, Sept. 21, GNA - Some heads of Senior High Schools in the Volta Region have appealed for additional infrastructure to accommodate students for the free Senior High School policy.

They made the appeal when Mr Peter Amewu, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, visited the schools to interact with heads, parents and students on the policy.

Mr John Tsetse, Assistant Headmaster, Academics, at St. Mary Seminary, Hohoe, said the School requested for 350 students but was given 467 students for the 2017/18 academic year.

He said because of the high intake, the School had to convert five classroom blocks and part of its dining hall into dormitories.

Mr Tsetse pleaded with the Minister, who is a past student to help complete an abandoned 400-capacity dormitory block project and 18-unit classroom blocks to ease the School's burden.

At the OLA SHS, in Ho, Mrs Benedicta Afesi, Headmistress, expressed concern at how parents whose children were not admitted as boarders left the children on the School compound.

She said the parents claim they could not leave the children on their own to rent apartments in town and that they should be under the supervision of the School.

Mrs Afesi said as it stands now, most of the students were day students on paper but boarders in reality and called on the government to increase their funding quota to make the day students fully boarders.

Mr Delight Nyamuame, Assistant Headmaster, Academics, Mawuko SHS, said the School converted part of its dining hall into a classroom facility for the new students.

He said the boarding facility was already congested with 492 out of the 630 students expected.

Mr Nyamuame said their boarding facility could only accommodate 400 students and their hostel facility could take 180 students, running the School into accommodation deficit.

He pleaded with government to provide them with additional 13 classrooms to enhance quality teaching and learning.

Dr Cephas Edusei, Headmaster, Hohoe E.P. SHS, praised the policy saying 'even if Nana Addo does not do anything for Ghana, the free SHS is enough'.

He said the policy had greatly reduced the financial burden on parents and said his School was managing the situation.

Mr Peter Amewu on his tour verified from parents and students to ensure they were not asked to pay any money.

He said the policy was a national programme and had come to stay, not a party propaganda.

The Minister urges students to justify the investment being made in them and excel.