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Opinions of Wednesday, 15 January 2014

Columnist: Welbeck, Thomas K.

Headmasters in Ashanti region still charging illegal fees

Headmasters in some junior secondary schools in Ashanti region still charging illegal fees

Towards the end of last year there were complaints from parents about illegal fees imposed by headmasters in many schools in Ashanti and other regions and one of the schools mentioned was Matyrs of Uganda J S S in Kumasi where the headmaster made each JSS 1 pupil pay well over five million cedis. The school is a public day school and the pupils are supposed to be under the free education programe. I read on Ghanaweb that headmasters who had overcharged students were ordered by GES to refund or credit the respective students/parents. While some schools complied others refused to comply.

For instance this same school - Matyrs of Uganda is still charging the pupils. At present a fee of One million cedis has been imposed on each pupil for the second term even though the first term fee of over 5 million cedis has not been refunded. I appeal to the GES to step in and let the headmaster know he is depriving the poor citizens of the region to go to school. I would also be grateful if he could explain what he did with all monies collected since his appointment as head of the school.

THOMAS K WELBECK