Koforidua, Mar. 6, GNA - The Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) has appealed to the government to give the private schools tax relief, since they were providing essential services in the building of the nations manpower and economic base.

"This would enable the private schools complement the government's goal of quality education and equal opportunity for the right to education for all Ghanaian children."

The Eastern Regional chairman of the GNAPS, Rev. Joseph Akpalu said this, at the regional launch of the GNAPS Week celebration on Friday, at Koforidua.

Rev. Akpalu noted that, there were about 15 per cent of the population of school-going children in private schools from poor homes and for that matter enjoyed free scholarships hence the need for tax relief for the private schools.

He also observed that apart from the tax, the operational license fee and the private schools levy charged by the District Assemblies were high because most of the private schools were in the rural areas where they were not charging much.

Speaking on the theme "Building a Vibrant and a Self-Reliant GNAPS- The Role of Individual Proprietors", Rev. Akpalu urged the proprietors to be committed to the cause of the association.

He advised prospective operators of the Junior Secondary School (JSS), to apply to their respective District Directors of Education in good time to forestall the incidence of some schools registering their candidates for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) through other schools.

The New Juaben Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Adjei Boateng noted that at the JSS level, it was the private schools who scored the good grades, saying it was an indication of the good work the private schools were doing, for which there was the need for the GNAPS to be strengthened to push the agenda of the private school forward.

Nana Adjei Boateng noted that as in every profession, there were a few bad nuts among the GNAPS as some proprietors were in the business with the primary objective of making money to the detriment of providing quality education and called on the GNAPS to be vigilant and identify all those bad nuts to ensure that the primary objective of complementing government's effort in education was not thwarted.

The MCE urged the proprietors to build a good rapport with their various District Directors of Education, who are ex-officio members of the Assemblies Committee on Education, to facilitate the conduct of their role in education.

The Eastern Regional Director of Education, Mrs Ewurabena Ahwoi commended the private schools for the significant role they were playing in the advancement of educational standards in the country.