Parents whose wards have been placed in boarding schools under the Free SHS Policy are suffering the harsh realities of the messed up economic condition. Prices of goods are up, while incomes remain low, and they are required to provide a tall list of items for their wards.
This is felt based on the amount of money needed to provide their wards with items listed on the school prospectus for boarding students. The cost of the items of most schools ranges between GHS3000.00 and GHS5000.00.
Many of these items are logistics that the government should provide for schools to function and operate.
The HUGE financial demands to buy items on Free SHS Prospectus makes Free SHS VERY Expensive, to say the least. Apart from the personal items that students must buy, there are so many others that are required by the schools, which demand answers from the government and the schools.
It looks like public secondary schools are under resources under the free SHS to the extent that, parents are responsible for the provision of all manner of times.
Is the government indirectly using the school prospectus to fund the operation of the Free SHS? If parents are to buy markers, nearly all cleaning items that are needed by the schools, what else does the government provide for the learners apart from feeding and accommodation?
Per information made available to this portal, the government provides textbooks and other materials such as furniture, markers, and chalk, among others.
The Free SHS was introduced to ensure, the burden of parents in terms of their financial commitments toward their wards’ secondary education is transferred to the government.
However, this is not the case, the prospectus of schools requires that parents should buy so many items which ran into thousands of cedis within a short period. Indirectly, parents are paying for Free SHS.
Now, after spending close to, 5000ghs, students will also be spending fewer days in school but more days on vacations.
Parents who want their wards to make good grades will have to also spend extra on vacation classes for their wards.
What the long-winding prospectus indicates is that the government’s free SHS is draining parents dry.
Free SHS, in its common sense meaning, should be excluded from the items on the school prospectus. Anything that will be used directly or indirectly by the schools must be provided by the government. These items must be the headache of the government and not the parents.
Items such as drying lines, markers, brooms, scrubbing brushes,
students providing cleaning logistics, markers, dusters, etc. which are supposed to be supplied by the government as part of the Free SHS policy.
Spending close to, GHS5000.00 on school operation supplies by parents is wrong and defeats the meaning of Free SHS. This long-winding prospectus will end up hindering students’ and parents’ access to secondary.