The Public Relations Officer of the Parents Teachers Association, Irene Sam, has hinted that a review of the current state of Free Senior High School (Free SHS) has been long overdue.
According to her, such a review would help address the challenges the second-cycle education sector faces.
Her comment follows a statement by the General Secretary of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS), Primus Baro, who urged parents and guardians to assist their wards with food when they return to school to help address the food shortage that has hit secondary schools.
Mrs. Irene Sam, in an interview with Nana Osei Ampofo Adjei on The Big Agenda on Adom TV, said, ‘Assisted Senior High Schools raised concerns about food shortages in the secondary schools prior to the Christmas break, so the PTA decided to go on a tour to see the situation firsthand and understand how parents can help. However, CHASS denied them access to the schools.’
She expressed her dissatisfaction with CHASS’s decision to deny parents access to the schools to ascertain the situation.
‘We are not happy about the situation in the schools, and as a Parents Association, we have asked parents to support their children with food when they are going back to school, so that in case the schools are unable to provide food for them, the children will not go hungry,’ she said.
Mrs. Irene Sam further remarked during the interview that the review of Free Secondary Education has been long overdue and needs to be addressed as quickly as possible.
‘Education is a shared responsibility; we cannot leave everything in the hands of the government. At least the policy should be reviewed so that parents who can pay will do so to ease the burden on the government and make the policy better,’ Madam Irene said.
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