Head teachers weep over delay in release of capitation grants

Some basic school head teachers in the Greater Accra Region are unhappy about the delay in the release of their capitation grants for over four terms.

President John Mahama directed the finance Ministry to pay all outstanding arrears of MDAs during his policy statement last September.

However, after a month since the directive was made not only not only head teachers are crying over their subvention but also several other agencies which have not had their subventions paid in the year.

This was coming in the wake of a promise by the President during the NDC manifesto launch in Ho last Thursday to increase the capitation by next year, raising questions about the effectiveness of such directives.

According to some head teachers, they now depended on students and parents for contributions in order to raise funds to execute school activities and programmes on schedule.

Some of the head teachers who spoke to the Daily Guide on condition of anonymity said they are heavily indebted are constantly avoiding their school creditors who are bent on taking their monies.

The money, according to them, was supposed to go into minor repairs of school furniture, recreational facilities and provision of teaching and learning materials.

One of the head teachers mentioned that they have been pre-financing many of the necessary expenses and are no longer in a position to sustain the trend.

A head teacher in the Dangbe-West District of Greater Accra Region explained that procuring teaching and learning materials has become a serious challenge due to unavailability of funds; hence, delay in the release of the Capitation Grant disturbed the effective running of schools.

The head teachers continued that no school in the region has received capitation grants for over a year-though inadequate to meet all financial needs of the schools.