National Security, Fire Service to join high powered free SHS monitoring team

The ministry of education has announced a monitoring team to oversee government’s flagship Free Senior High School program.

The team will include representatives from the National Ambulance Service, National Fire Service, National Security, school heads and Auditors.

The minister of education Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh announced this in Kumasi at a consultative meeting held with heads of senior high schools, the Computer School Placement Secretariat and directors of the Ghana Education Service.

Sounding a caution to the school heads he warned, “You should be very very clear that if you don’t understand anything about the program, let’s seek clarification because we don’t want headmasters to go back to their institutions and one plus one becomes which angle you are asking the question or which language is being asked.

The minister of education Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh used the occasion to explain into detail the modalities, intricacies, mode of government’s release of funding and criterion for the operation of the Free Senior High School Program.

Some of the heads of the Senior High Schools who spoke to Ultimate News’ Ivan Heathcote Fumador expressed satisfaction with the levels of consultation and the clarity given by the ministry after a rigorous question and answer session.

The headmistress of the Methodist Girls Senior High School in the Eastern region, Sylvia Laryea told Ultimate News, “we are all excited about the responses because it is so disheartening when you see that some students cannot pay their fees and you have to send them home but now we are happy they are all now coming on board.”

The headmaster for the Lambusi Community Day Senior High school in the Upper West Region, Sulemani Haruna Sumaila was elated about the free test books component of the program.

He was however worried his school still depends on volunteer teachers since the government has still not given clearance for more teaching staff to be recruited.