60% of tertiary enrolments are from private schools

Juaso (Ash), July 9, 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.