By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
Accra, Nov. 28, GNA - Participants at a child protection workshop have raised concerns about the charging of fees for extra classes fees and unauthorised levies by some head teachers of public schools from their pupils.
They said the head teachers charged between GH¢1.00 and GH¢1.50p per pupil on daily basis; and those who could not pay the fees were made to sit outside the classroom during instructional hours.
Some teachers also subjected defaulting pupils to severe canning, torture, emotional and psychological abuse, thus compelling some pupils to drop out.
The participants, therefore, urged the Conference of Heads of Basic Schools to take a decisive action against the charging of extra classes’ fees.
The participants, who included parents and students, raised those concerns at the third edition of the Knowledge Sharing Workshop on Child Protection, organised by the Participatory Development Associates (PDA) Limited.
It was held in collaboration with the Children’s Department of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in Accra.
The event also attracted key stakeholders in the education sector, including teachers, Directors of Education and civil society organisations devoted to the cause of child protection.
They discussed issues affecting children of school-going-age and professed solutions that would ensure their safety.
It was held under the theme: “Protecting the Ghanaian School Child: Improving Effective Partnerships between State and Non-State Actors”.
Madam Benedicta Seidu, Director, Girl Child Education at the Ghana Education Service (GES), reacting to the concerns raised by the participants, said the Management of the GES had issued a circular to all public basic schools across the country, prohibiting head teachers and teachers from collecting levies and fees for extra classes.
She said head teachers who disregarded the directive were severely punished and demoted in rank in order to serve as a deterrent to others.
Madam Seidu, therefore, entreated parents whose children were asked to pay unapproved charges to lodge their complaints with the GES for the necessary actions to be taken.
Mr Zayan Mohammed Imoro, a Senior Project Officer of PDA and Convener of the workshop, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the platform afforded key education stakeholders in the country the opportunity to share ideas and discuss various policies and programmes being rolled out by government for children’s safety and protection.
He was of the conviction that proper awareness creation among the stakeholders would ensure those policies and programmes were fully implemented to the benefit of the children.
The Government should also make it clear whether Parent-Teacher Associations could collect levies towards the infrastructural development of schools, Mr Imoro said.
Mr Edem Agbe, the Managing Director of PDA, in his welcoming address, said the workshop provided an avenue for education stakeholders to share ideas on emerging knowledge and evidence on child protection, with the objective of informing policy formulation and implementation.
In 2017, he said, the PDA launched an online platform to monitor all child abuse cases reported in schools by selected media outlets.
The initiative, he said, would enable policy-makers and practitioners to find lasting solutions to those abuses and enhance child protection in schools across the country.
GNA
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