GES stops collection of illegal fees from JHS graduates

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has served notice that the collection of money by some schools from recent Junior High School (JHS ) graduates who are selecting Senior High Schools as payment for Parent Teacher Association (PTA) dues, Clearance of final year students, extra classes or any other form of payment is not sanctioned by the GES, and is therefore illegal. The service is therefore warning heads of schools to desist from the practice while those who have taken the monies already have been directed to refund the money to their owners. In a statement dated November 4, 2022 and signed by the Director of Schools and Instructions Division at the GES, Patty E. Assan, all regional Directors of Education are to notify District/Municipal/Metropolitan Directors of Education “to caution all Heads of Basic Schools that such extortions are unwarranted and should be stopped forthwith.” The statement assured that “Management of GES wishes to assure the general public that the school selection process does not involve collection of monies.” There have been several reports of heads of schools collecting fees from JHS graduates who recently sat the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and are now selecting senior high schools (SHSs) so as to allow the Computerized School Selection and Placement System ( CSSPS) to put them into the SHSs they are qualified for.