Free SHS: GHS124m Released

GHS124,520,623 has been released by the Ministry of Education to settle arrears due Senior High Schools for the Free SHS programme as well as for the payment of teacher trainee allowances and feeding grant of colleges of education in the country.

Of the total amount, GHS46,069,423 will be channeled to public schools implementing the Free SHS as grants for the third term which have been in arrears for almost two months.

It is meant to cover payments to the Buffer Stock which provides food for the Free SHS students.

Also, GHS40,010,112 will be used to pay teacher trainee allowances for April to July 2018.

The remaining GHS38,441,088, will go into paying Principals Conference (PRINCOF) in respect of the Colleges of Education feeding grants through the National Commission for Tertiary Education, a statement from the Ministry of Education said.

The release of the funds follows complaints by the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) which stated that “the delayed payment of the Free SHS Grant for the third term of the 2017/18 academic year is creating serious financial challenges for Senior High Schools”.

In the letter dated 28 May 2018 which was copied to the Minister of Education, Ghana Education Service Council and the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, CHASS National President, Victor Yanney, further explained that the schools are in the seventh week of re-opening and “we are required to spend fourteen (14) weeks in school this term and yet no school has received any grant from the Free SHS Secretariat.

He said they would appreciate “if the third term grant could be paid without any further delay to ensure the smooth running of the term”.

Source: Ghana/ClassFMonline