The policy of the government is that basic and secondary education should be free, and no parent should be compelled to pay any money for such services provided in public schools. However, information available to the Ghana Education News for the past month indicates that there are public schools in the Volta region that have been charging some fees for tuition and examination.
A particular school in the South Dayi District of the region are on record to be charging parents fees for examination and tuition to the tune of Ghs80.00 and this happens every term. Since the Ghana Education Service has not given an official directive for schools to charge fees, the ongoing activity in South Dayi District amounts to the collection of illegal fees.
Dzemeni EP primary and JHS school have been specifically mentioned to be engaged in the collection of illegal fees.
“Please there is something going on at Dzemeni EP primary and JHS school in South Dayi district in the Volta region. That’s every term they bill the children of some amount of money in the name of school fees and examination fees as am talking my son in JHS one is supposed to pay an amount of GHC 80.00, this happen every term so please you people should help us. I shall give you the break-down of the fees on Monday thanks”
The intel from the worried parent came after the Ghana Education News published the story “No End of 2nd Term Exam for public basic schools as GES remains silent”
The disregard for the GES directive instructing heads and teachers to desist from the collection of illegal fees such as exam fees, classes fees, and school fees among others is not being obeyed. The widespread nature of the disregard for the order may stem from several factors, including the lack of adequate and timely funding from the central government to schools to finance such activities.
However, we call on the Ghana Education Service to launch an investigation at the regional and district level on this peculiar case reported against the Dzemeni EP primary and JHS school in the South Dayi district in the Volta region.
The Ghana Education News Editorial Team is a specialized collective of education researchers, journalists, and policy analysts dedicated to providing high-fidelity reporting on the Ghanaian academic landscape. Serving as a primary bridge between governing bodies—including the Ghana Education Service (GES) and WAEC—and the public, the team leverages over a decade of combined experience to serve students, parents, and educators nationwide.
Lead Architect & Editor-in-Chief
The team is led by Wisdom Kojo Eli Hammond, a distinguished Ghanaian Edu-Tech Entrepreneur, AI Solutions Developer, and Product Architect with over 25 years of cross-disciplinary experience in education, finance, and digital media. Wisdom is the visionary force behind SkulManager, Ghana’s premier school management ecosystem, and the Lead Consultant at Education-News Consult.
A self-taught innovator, professional Web Designer, and regular columnist on GhanaWeb, Wisdom engineered SkulManager.com as the only platform strictly tailored to the GES Curriculum. His technical leadership has redefined educational assessment through a Hybrid Marking Ecosystem, pioneering the BECE and WASSCE Home Mock services—a unique fusion of WAEC-trained human examiners and advanced AI marking engines operational since 2022.
Wisdom’s 360-degree view of institutional challenges is grounded in his tenure as College President and Lecturer at Pinnacle College (Achimota), as well as his background as a school administrator and accountant. He is a dedicated lifelong learner currently advancing his studies at the Accra Institute of Technology (AIT), with academic ties to the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).
An accomplished author, his works include Returnees of the Dead Forest (UK Published), Simplified Beacon of Light (850+ Q&A), and The Leader in Me. A foundational pillar of the award-winning NGO Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG), Wisdom is committed to building intelligent systems that solve societal problems and prepare the next generation of Ghanaian students for a digital future.
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