Private school owners threaten demo against Akufo-Addo

The Ghana Association of Private Schools has served notice of a demonstration to the seat of government over “the collapse of their schools.”

The association says the demonstration would comprise proprietors, proprietresses and parents with their wards in the schools associated with the association.

Chairman for the association, Reverend Williams Baako at a press conference said government has failed to engage them despite several calls on authorities over the collapse of their schools following the introduction of the free senior high policy.

The chairman served caution the demonstration would also comprise fresh Ghanaian voters who are expected to cast their ballot in 2020.

He told journalists the imminent collapse of their schools would lead to massive job losses

That, he said, was in addition to its related loss of tax revenue for the state, loss of millions of Ghana cedis in invested capital of Ghanaian educational owners in the private sector.

"Government is collapsing our schools… We have appealed to government to intervene but we have not received any good news and so, we are serving notice of a demonstration. We are going to organize a massive demonstration to drum home our concerns. The government should remember that we [private schools] carry the majority, look at the number of employees we have. We have between 40-60 teachers in our different schools. We have helped reduced unemployment in Ghana.

"But if government does not want to engage us then we want to serve notice of the massive demonstration. The demonstration is not limited to only the owners but parents and students of voting age. We have done well and contributed our quota to the sector and if our efforts have not been recognised, we will demonstrate.’’

Touching on the teacher licensure examination introduced by government, he said private schools “are not bound’’ by the law to have their teachers sit for the exams.

The exams met with stiff resistance from some newly trained teachers but the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the National Teaching Council (NTC) insisted anyone who wanted to be hired by the GES after training must write.