The Ghana Education Service (GES) has ordered all Senior High School (SHS) heads to immediately stop collecting admission fees, Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) dues, and other unapproved levies from parents of new students. This directive, signed by Daniel Fenyi, Head of Public Relations at GES, aims to uphold the country's free Senior High School education policy. The policy, introduced to remove financial barriers to secondary education, ensures that no qualified student is turned away or burdened with school-related costs.
According to GES, reports have been received that some SHS and Senior High Technical Schools (SHTS) heads have been quietly collecting unauthorized fees from parents and guardians of freshers. The GES management strongly cautions all school heads to cease this practice with immediate effect. Charging and collecting fees not officially sanctioned by the government contradicts the free Senior High School education policy. This directive is part of a wider pattern of interventions by GES to close gaps between the policy on paper and its actual implementation.
This latest directive follows a similar warning issued by GES just a day earlier, regarding the forced sale of prospectus items to new students. GES had opened investigations into reports that some school heads were compelling new students to buy prospectus items directly from the school, rather than allowing families to source cheaper alternatives. Additionally, on 18 September, GES issued a directive barring schools from denying boarding accommodation to students based on the type of trunk or chop box they brought to school.
The unauthorized fees collected by some SHS heads have added to household expenses for parents, which the free education policy was supposed to eliminate. For parents already stretched by the cost of uniforms, textbooks, and boarding items, any additional and unauthorized charge directly increases their expenses. The GES statement emphasizes that the free Senior High School programme aims to ensure a cost-free transition to secondary school for all qualified students.
The GES statement did not name any specific schools implicated in the practice, nor did it outline potential sanctions for heads found to have continued collecting the fees after the warning. It remains unclear how widespread the practice is or how GES plans to monitor compliance across the country's public senior high and technical schools. The directive, however, covers all public senior high and technical schools nationwide.
No further timeline has been given beyond the immediate order for school heads to stop the practice. GES has not indicated whether it will publish findings from its parallel investigation into the forced sale of prospectus items or address the two matters together. The developments will be tracked as part of the ongoing Free SHS Hidden Costs Watch coverage.
The Ghana Education Service's efforts aim to ensure that the free Senior High School policy is effectively implemented, providing relief to parents and guardians. By addressing these unauthorized fees and practices, GES seeks to create a more equitable and accessible education system for all students in Ghana.
Key points
- The Ghana Education Service has ordered all Senior High School heads to stop collecting unauthorized fees from new students.
- The directive aims to uphold the country's free Senior High School education policy.
- The practice of collecting unauthorized fees contradicts the free Senior High School education policy and adds to household expenses for parents.
