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About 60 percent of tertiary
enrolments are from private schools
Juaso (Ash), July 9, Ghanadot/GNA – Sixty to 80 percent of
enrolment in tertiary institutions in the country are
products of private schools from the basic level, Mr. Fabian
Belieb, the District Director of Education for Asante Akim-South,
has said.
He said until the introduction of the private school
concept, only 23
senior high schools were feeding public universities and
that the contribution of private schools had significantly
increased enrolment in universities.Mr. Belieb, who was
speaking at the inauguration of the Asante Akim South
District branch of the Ghana National Association of Private
Schools (GNAPS) at Juaso, attributed the situation to the
loss of confidence in public schools especially at the basic
level.
He said public confidence in government schools had dwindled
over the
years and parents who valued education enrolled their
children in private schools.
“Private schools contribute immensely to the human resource
need of the
nation, so there is the need for them to benefit from
government interventions.”
Mr. Solomon Kwabena Obeng, a former Director General of the
Ghana
Education Service, said it was time government considered
private schools as partners in the provision of quality
education rather than profit making entities.
He urged government to look beyond the profit made by
private school
owners and provide enabling environment for them to thrive
in the interest of nation building.
Mr. Abdul Karim Boakye-Yiadom, the District Chief Executive,
appealed
to members of the association to abide by the rules and
regulation of the Ghana Education Service in running
schools.
He said the assembly was collaborating with the Ghana
Library Board to
introduce mobile libraries in the district.
Mr. Michael Ambrose Appiah, Ashanti Regional Chairman of
GNAPS
appealed to the government to extend the Capitation Grant
and the Ghana School Feeding Programme to private schools.
He said the exclusion of private schools from government
interventions
defeated private sector participation and also denied
children in private schools access to national resources.
Mr. Appiah said only private tertiary institutions were
benefiting from the
Ghana Education Trust Fund and called on government to take
a critical look at the situation since private schools were
complementing its efforts.
GNA
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