Government-assisted senior high schools (SHSs) in the three regions of the north finally reopened on Monday May 22, 2017 to begin academic work for the third term of the 2016/2017 academic year.
This was after the Ministry of Finance had released GH¢106.69 million for the payment of the feeding grant for the schools amid media reports that public SHSs in the three regions of the north had remained closed due to arrears in feeding grant.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Finance in Accra on Wednesday May 10, 2017 announcing the release of the amount for the payment of the arrears in feeding grant to schools in the three regions of the north was published in the May 11, 2017 edition of the Daily Graphic with the headline: “ Govt releases feeding grant for SHSs in the north.”
The schools were originally scheduled to reopen on May 4, 2017, but this had to be postponed as a result of the delay in the release of the feeding grant to the schools which had been in arrears for three-and-a-half terms, compelling suppliers to suspend their services to the schools.
Students of public SHSs in the three regions of the north had to stay at home for almost three weeks despite the fact that SHSs across the country reopened for the third term on May 4, 2017.
Media reports
According to the Northern Regional Director of Education, Alhaji Mohammed Haroon, the processes for the money to hit the accounts of the schools for them to pay food suppliers would take about two weeks and, therefore, the reopening date of the schools was rescheduled for Monday, May 22, 2017 for academic work to begin.
When the Daily Graphic visited some of the schools in and around Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, some students had started reporting to school. Some of those schools were Kalpohini SHS (KALISCO), Tamale SHS (TAMASCO) and the Ghana SHS (GHANASCO).
Some of the students who were interviewed said they were not comfortable staying at home for almost three weeks while their counterparts in the other parts of the country were in school learning.
They expressed the hope that the school authorities would put in place measures to enable them to complete the syllabus before the end of the term since anything short of that would affect them academically.
Authorities
Teachers at the schools visited confirmed that the schools had reopened for academic work to begin for the third term and expressed the hope that they would do their best to make up for the lost periods.
When the Daily Graphic contacted Alhaji Haroon, he confirmed that SHSs in the three regions of the north reopened on Monday for the third term.
He said the Regional Education Directorate would meet with the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) to see how best they could make up for the lost contact hours.
The Headmaster of TAMASCO and Regional Chairman of CHASS, Mr Wilberforce Adams, also confirmed the reopening of the schools and stated that CHASS would meet to see how best they could address the gap.
The delay in the release of feeding grant to SHSs in the three regions of the north has been a perennial problem.
