By Emmanuel Adu Gyamfi, ( gyamemma5@gmail.com)
The center for Better society advocate and Research – Africa has stated that the Accra metropolitan Education Directory is hugely extracting money from parents of Basic schools within the jurisdiction for the Director, who is going on retirement.
They said the act of benevolence is done according to the free will of the giver, however, this action cannot be termed as one. This is coercion and clear abuse of the office of the metro director of education and must not be entertained.
EXTORTION
According to the vice president of CEBSAR – Africa, Eric Darlison,headteachers of basic schools were asked to pay an amount of two hundred cedis (GH200) as part of a retirement package for the Accra Metro Education Director under arm – twisting.
“These are schools that are having challenges with finances and this behaviour by the director clearly goes to undermine the government effort to ensure quality but affordable education at the basic school level.” – he bemoaned.
Mr Eric Darlison, said each pupil at the basic level is levied one cedi( GH 1) from the printing fee for Metro Education Director,
each basic school also is paying two hundred cedis ( GH 200) from their internally generated fund,
each Head teacher is paying twenty cedis ( GH 20.0).
Interestingly,each pupil is levied fifty pesewas (GH 0.50) from the same printing fees as a reward for the Circuit Supervisors (C/S).
” Per this directives, for over one hundred schools in the metropolis, an estimated amount of thirty – three thousand Cedis (GH33,000)will be paid as a retirement package just for one employee. Isn’t this worth saying ” – he quizzed
PUNISHMENT
CEBSAR – Africa also mentioned that they had numerous complaints from teachers and headteachers on the ground that this extortion has been going on for a very long time but nobody dare voice them out , as those who stick their necks out are often threatened with transfers and other forms of intimidations.
“As an institute that promote the wellbeing of individuals in the country and care about sanity in the education sector, it is imperative that some of these bottlenecks are prioritized to be tackled to avoid the sinking of the Free Compulsory Basic Education.” – Mr Darlison lamented.
DIRECTOR GENERAL
” We are, by this statement, asking the Director General of the Ghana Education Service to call his Accra Metropolitan Director to order and also to refund all the monies to the coffers of these basic schools with immediate effect and not to turn these schools as the cash cow for her retirement.
