Senior high schools which record a deficit in the enrolment figures under the free Senior High School (SHS) policy will need to explain that to the secretariat, the Chairman of the Ghana Education Service (GES) Council has said.
Michael Nsowah said this will be known by a signed list of the total number of students enrolled.
The required number for each SHS is 600.
“If the signed list is less than 600, you need to explain why something like that has happened,” he stated, “because this is government money.”
Mr Nsowah made this known on Tuesday in an interview on 3FM’s Sunrise concerning the complaints by heads of the schools over the delay in disbursement of funds for the policy.
The former Director General of the Service said the Free SHS Secretariat is ready to disburse the remaining funds to schools provided signed lists containing particulars of contractors and suppliers, among others, are submitted.
He said the indication of the deficit or surpluses will aid in the disbursement of the exact amount to cater for supplies.
Mr Nsowah insisted: “Just indicate that three or two or ten [students] have left the school and therefore instead of 600 children you have 590.”
But he clarified that the situation will not constitute an “illegal activity”.
“The signed list will tell the surpluses that you have in your stock.”
‘Unapproved boarding’
He accused some heads of enrolling some students on “unapproved boarding and it is not reflecting”.
But since the center has a required quota for each school, some of these schools get blocked in their data entry.
The list will therefore aid in reconciling the numbers, he explained.
Mr Nsowah also indicated that some school heads failed to understand the processes of the policy and so there is a regional tour, which is expected to take their concerns and also explain to them the expenditure of the 20 per cent funds, some of which have been used to pay what the government is supposed to defray directly.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana