The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta and the Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum are expected to appear before Parliament to answer questions on the non-disbursement of capitation grants to public basic schools for over three years now.
The capitation grant was introduced in 2005 to give schools the necessary funds to improve teaching and learning, manage and relieve the financial burdens of parents as several levies were imposed as a way of schools making up for inadequate funding.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) earlier this week complained bitterly about the government’s inability to disburse capitation grants to basic schools since 2019.
“Since 2019, this is the most pathetic one, which breaks some of us down. The capitation grant has been in arrears and we have our education in crisis,” Deputy General Secretary for GNAT, in Charge of Education and Professional Development, Kwame Dagbandow, said in a keynote address delivered on his behalf by Palham Oyeye, at the launch of the Global Action Week for Education (GAWE) on Monday.
Speaking on the issue on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show, the Ranking Member on the Education Select Committee of Parliament and Member of Parliament for Akatsi North, Peter Nortsu Kotoe said the management of schools is challenged due to the non-availability of funds.
He says the Finance and Education Ministers will appear before parliament during the midyear review at the end of June to answer questions on the non-disbursement of capitation grants to schools.
“It is the no money syndrome that they have been saying, so Ministry of Finance has not released any money to the Ministry of Education for that matter the Ghana Education Service to disburse to the basic schools as capitation grant. We are waiting that when we come for the midyear review at the end of June we have a number of questions for the Minister of Education and Finance Minister to answer,” he said.
He added that “it is not only the capitation grant, if you go to the Senior High Schools release of funds for the management of schools is a challenge, even day Senior High Schools are even suffering more than those having the boarding facilities. We have a number of questions for them, textbooks are not there, materials for teaching and learning are not there, so we have a number of questions that we are waiting for them to come at the end of June when we are going to have the midyear review.”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Osuman Kaapore Tahiru|Ghana
