GES summons six SHS headmasters over PTA levies

Six senior high school headmasters have been summoned by the Ghana Education Service Council to explain why they defied a directive to cease charging Parent, Teacher Association (PTA) levies.
The headmasters whose names have not been revealed are expected in Accra today to justify why they should not be sanctioned by the GES for charging students the unapproved levies without recourse to authorities.

“If they do not give us any proper reasons to their behaviours when they come, we’ll strip them of their rank as headmasters,” GES Council Chairman, Michael Nsowah, told Accra-based Onua FM Monday.
He added: “We’ll replace them with better managers. If any head of an institution prevents children from receiving education in any way, he is unfit to manage that institution.”

The GES has suspended the collection of levies under the auspices PTA in all public SHSs and technical/vocational institutions (TVETs).
The directive, according to the GES is to help streamline and review all such PTA levies in all public SHSs/TVETs which some heads of SHSs are said to have given to students.

Speaking on Onua FM’s Yen Nsem Pa, Mr. Nsowah explained during the school vacation, GES received numerous complaints that there have been letters to parents, stating in part that their children would not be allowed to attend classes if they did not pay their PTA dues.
He told the host, Bright Kwesi Asempa that when the free SHS was introduced, it was concluded that because PTA was autonomous, the management of the association should be run by only the association without the interference of the school administration including the heads.
“The heads of schools should not get involved in the running of PTA, this is a very simple directive we have been giving since last year,” Mr. Nsowah stated.
He said just a month ago the Education Ministry and the GES have embarked on a campaign in the Northern Central and Ashanti regions on the directive yet some heads appeared adamant.

“We’ve made this directive known but I wonder if it’s taking monies that interest the heads,” he stated.
According to him, six heads who have been identified by GES as having gone against the directive, have been summoned to GES today for further questioning.
“So far six heads have been sanctioned to meet GES; there’s one institution which is Yilo Krobo Secondary Technical where the final year students were warned not to return to school without their PTA levy of ¢285.