Returning schools to missions not solution - GES

Alhaji Mohammed Haroun, Northern Regional Director of Ghana Education Service (GES), has shot down proposals to return Mission/Unit schools to the Mission/Units, saying that was not the solution.

He emphasised an arrangement where the head of the Mission/Unit schools would be a professional chosen from the Mission/Unit.

Alhaji Haroun was speaking during the opening of the 37th Annual National Conference of the Association of Catholic Heads of Higher Institutions (ACHHI) in Tamale on Tuesday.

The week-long event, which brought together heads of Catholic higher institutions, is on the theme: “The Place of Unit Schools in the Administration of Education in Ghana Today: The Way Forward”.

Participants will amongst others elect new executives to steer the affairs of ACHHI.

The proposal to return Mission/Unit schools to Mission/Unit to manage has long been advocated by religious bodies that have established schools in the country.

Alhaji Haroun commended mission schools for their hard work, which ensured high academic standards and discipline amongst their students in the country.

He said mission schools continued to remain preferred institutions for many students urging them to maintain the standards, adding, government cherished the contribution of mission schools to the provision of education in the country.

Reverend Father Michael Elorm Gbordzor, National President of ACHHI, was not happy that the issue of returning mission schools to the missions was not treated as a constitutional matter to properly assign roles to stakeholders.

Reverend Father Gbordzor said “What we see is a struggle for power between Church/Unit and State and this trickles down to the various levels of management; education managers at the national, regional, district and local/school levels; who has authority and who does what?

He spoke about the Free Senior High School policy of the government saying current challenges such as non/or delayed payment of government subventions to the sector should be addressed first to signal that the policy could be implemented.