Special Schools across the country are appealing to the government to urgently release subventions owed to them for the last three terms, as it is crucial for their ability to provide for children with special needs.
In an interview with Citi News on Friday, Setumpe Ametewee, the National Chairman of Heads of Special Schools in Ghana, pleaded with the government to support the schools in bringing joy to these vulnerable children.
“We want to plead with the government to help us put smiles on the faces of these unfortunate vulnerable children. It is been very difficult feeding them and we want to plead that we continue to get the subvention and the support that we continue to give our special schools in Ghana,” he stated.
Mr Ametewee said the nonpayment was adversely affecting them as they were struggling to take care of children who do not pay school fees.
“Almost every region has a special school. We have about 28 special schools standing in all and we have some other ones that are also day schools and they do not pay fees and it is the government’s subvention that is being used in feeding them.
“So there has been some difficulty and that’s what we are working on…It is serious because, for the past three terms, we have not had any grants so it’s very difficult, especially with our counterpart in the Northern region,” he stated.
According to him, the government is supposed to spend ¢5 on each child daily but since they have not received the amount for the past three terms, they have been facing serious challenges in running the schools.
“Some of the special schools have suppliers that supply foodstuffs to their schools so the suppliers continue to supply foodstuffs. But because we have a backlog where we have not paid their monies to them it becomes difficult for them to supply foodstuffs to them,” he added.