Council of private schools justifies high cost of fees

Some parents are complaining about the high increase in school fees for this academic term.

Most of these parents who have their wards in private schools say the fees have doubled, making it difficult for them to pay.

Sharing their worries on the Citi Breakfast Show, some of the parents said, “the money that I’m paying is huge. As I’m coming to work this morning, there was a lot of pressure on me,” a worried parent complained.

“My girl is going to JHS 3 now and the fees have been increased from GH¢1,800 to GH¢2,000. The other girl who is in lower primary is paying GH¢1,200 as against GH¢950. Feeding fees have also been increased, they also want to profiteer from the books that we are supposed to buy,” another parent fumed.

However, the Ghana National Council of Private Schools has attributed the increase in fees to the rising cost of educational materials.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show,Executive Director of the Ghana National Council of Private Schools, Enoch Gyetua, explained, “the Constitution made it clear that the private schools enjoy the rights of establishment and rights of maintenance. We have feeding fees, schools, operational cost, teachers’ allowances, tables and chairs, learning materials to take care of. When the dollar came down, we informed the schools to do re-adjustment by way of contacting the service providers to let us know their position.

“The feedback we got from the schools and the service providers was that most of the service providers had already ordered their materials. Textbook issues have increased the school fees not necessarily the tuition fee and all other aspects. Almost all the textbooks we use in Ghana are published and printed outside,” the Executive Director of the Ghana National Council of Private Schools stated.

Mr. Gyetua says they will meet with the National Parents Teachers Association to schedule a flexible payment plan for parents.

“We have actually come out with some form of negotiations that the schools are to negotiate with their suppliers so that payment terms could be agreed upon,” he stated.

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