Ghana demotes 29 Head Teachers!!

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has demoted some 29 head teachers for charging students above what the government has approved for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). The BECE is the first test for students who want to climb up the academic ladder and the GES described the actions of the head teacher as unfortunate and unacceptable. Nine of the demoted head teachers are within the capital- the Accra Metropolitan area while the remaining twenty are in the second biggest city of Kumasi. The demoted head teaches will now serve as ordinary class teachers without any rank. The move has been widely praised by majority of Ghanaians.

In a Media briefing over the weekend, Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said although the Ministry of Education has approved GH¢17.40 ($5) as fees for the registration for the examination, some of the schools had been charging up to GH¢150 ($47). He said the ministry decided to carry out its independent investigations into the allegations that some head teachers in the country are charging above the government’s subsidized fee before registering the students for the examination. “The conduct of the school heads defeats the purpose of the government subsidy because parents do not feel the impact as they were forced to pay way above the approved fees. These monies do not go to examination body and only the heads know what they do with those illegal fees they collect,” he said.

The minister added that parents who have already paid these fees should go back to the schools and collect the excess and that the education ministry is ready to crackdown on recalcitrant head teachers who flout the laws. “This is just the beginning and we have activated our complaints centre. If we receive any complaints from now onwards, they will receive immediate action because this is becoming too rampant, all parents and guardians who have paid more than what we have approved should go for a refund immediately”, the minister said.