Accra- Neogenics Education Group, an International Educational Consultancy firm in Ghana, has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to roll out financial stimulus package for private schools in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Group believes the support
would show that government recognized the contribution made by private
providers in education from Pre-school to the Senior High School (SHS) levels.
Mr. Grant Bulmuo, Lead Consultant of the Group
told the Ghana News Agency that failure on the part of government to intervene
would mean that over two million Ghanaian children would fall behind in their
education.
This, he said would be at the risk of receiving
low quality education with great consequence on the quality of the country’s
future human resource.
He estimated that over 50 percent of private
schools in Ghana were likely to fold up as a result of the adverse impact of
the COVID-19 crisis.
A 2018 World Bank report shows that private
schools constitute over 30 per cent of education provision at the primary
school level and their contribution could not be overstated.
Mr. Bulmuo also quoted Ghana’s Educational
Sector Performance Report in 2017 that gives an indication of how important the
private sector education is contributing to increase in enrolment at the
primary level from 4.1 million in 2011/12 to 4.4 million in 2017/18.
According to him, a recent survey they carried
out revealed that in spite of the immense contribution of private schools to
the provision of education, “vast majority” of them did not have
“huge reserves” to contain unexpected contingencies like COVID-19.
He urged the government to consider an economic
and financial stimulus or intervention for private sector basic and secondary
schools amidst the pandemic.
He said as a result of the lockdown and school
closures, some schools have to acquire virtual learning platforms and resources
in order to continue educating students through distance learning.
Mr Bulmuo called on government to provide
financial intervention or stimulus to support with the payment of salaries of
private school teachers during this period and also a freeze on SSNIT and other
tax payments for up to three months when schools re-open.
Source: Ghana News Agency