It appears it will take a miracle for several private senior high schools in Kumasi to find even a hundred first year students in their class rooms this academic year.
The private senior high school crisis begun last year with the onset of government’s free senior high school program which has virtually outcompeted these schools.
This year, things have been worse as government has rolled out a double track system that has freed up space for more students to be enrolled into public senior high schools.
At Ultimate fm’s visit to the king’s college, one of the biggest and leading Private Senior High Schools in the Ashanti region, it was a pale shadow of its glory days.
The school has cut off General Science and Business courses leaving just Visual arts, General Arts and Home Economics.
For a school which used to take in an average of seven hundred (700) students, you could hardly see anyone coming in to seek admission for their wards.
The school authorities hesitated to speak to Ultimate News on record but close sources among the staff told Ultimate News’ Ivan Heathcote – Fumador that morale amongst teachers was low.
Ultimate News also gathered from the administration that government has been to the school to inspect its facilities for a possible partnership to hold extra classes in the huge classrooms which now stand idle.
At the Akwasi Pong Senior High School, another prominent private Senior High School with imposing edifices, the numbers were still poor but much better than was witnessed at the Kings College.
Parents bringing their wards here will have to cough up a first term fee of 750 cedus for a day status while borders are paying a thousand one hundred cedis.
Head master of the school Kojo Appiah indicated that the students enrolling are students who have rejected their placements and courses allocated them in government schools.
He explained, “Some parents don’t want their wards to be enrolled in the double track and don’t want to wait till that time. We also have those who don’t like the schools their wards have been placed because instead of boarding they were given a day status far away and for some of them they don’t like the courses they were given.”
Mr Appiah however lamented that the future of private senior high schools is bleak as government is not helping their course.
“We tried as the Conference of Heads of Private Schools, talking with the Ministry of Education to at least bring in a cut off point so that students who don’t meet it can come to the private schools. But government was reluctant and in the near future most private schools will have to fold up because they don’t have any plans for us,” he bemoaned.
Meanwhile the Ashanti regional coordinator of the Student Representative Council Raphael Sakodie believes it was about time government considers drafting collapsing private Senior High schools unto the free senior high school program.
Perhaps if government had rolled these schools unto the free senior high school system, you may not even need to roll out a double track system.”
He observed that “some of the private institutions like Akwasi Pong and Our Lady of Grace have some of the best facilities and education systems to do what the government senior high schools are offering.”
By:Ghana/Ultimatefmonline.com/106.9FM/Ivan Heathcote – Fumador/ Debora Antoh
The post A/R – Private SHSs struggle to find 1st year students. appeared first on Ultimate FM.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS