Heads of some low-fee paying basic schools in the Gomoa East Metropolis and Awutu Senya East Municipality in the Central Region have appealed to the government to extend the 30 per cent quota computer placement for public basic school candidates to senior high schools (SHSs) to private institutions.

That, they said, would encourage parents to enrol their children in these institutions, ensure equity and access to quality education, as well as help ease the current congestion in some public basic schools.

Lawrence Dameh Hagbla, proprietor, Bright Future International School, Buduburam

Field trip

The managers of Supreme Care Academy,  and Bright Future International School, Ransford Gyekye and Lawrence Dameh Hagbla, appealed in an interview with journalists during a field trip to some low-fee paying institutions in the Gomoa East Metropolis and Kasoa.

The schools visited are Supreme Care Academy, Adade, Bright Future International School and Way of Peace Montessori all at Buduburam in the Gomoa East Metropolis and the Beginners Springboard Educational Centre at Kpormetey, near Kasoa.

The field trip was organised by Opportunity International Edufinance.

The initiative being implemented in some low-fee paying basic private schools in parts of the Ashanti, Eastern, Central and Greater Accra regions is to provide all school-age children access to affordable and quality education.

Mr Hagbla explained that after preparing students for the Basic Education Certificate Examination parents usually moved them to the public schools because of the quota system.

He further appealed to the government to extend teaching and learning materials policy and other forms of support for public basic schools to these low-fee-paying institutions to boost enrolment.

No fees

At the Beginners Springboard Educational Centre, the Head of the school, Grace Frimpongmaa, said the school does not collect fees but parents pay GH¢9 a day, out of which the schoolchildren were provided a hot meal in the afternoon.

She said the school, with a population of over 400 children from Creche to the junior high school level, was established to help the less privileged children in the community have access to quality education.

Ms Frimpongmaa appealed to the government for support for the low-fee paying schools to improve on their infrastructure to enable them to enrol more children who were of school-going age but could not access education because of lack of classroom space.

Support

The Senior Education Specialist at the Opportunity International Edufinance, Lordina Omanhene-Gyimah, disclosed that the initiative, since its inception in 2016, had built the capacity of over 420 school managers, head teachers and teachers in low -fee-paying institutions across the country.

She said the initiative was to improve the quality of education in low-fee-paying schools through a cluster-based model and self-assessment.

“Over three years, school leaders receive training on four topics per year, while teacher mentors receive training on five topics per year.

The programme also includes self-assessment, where schools evaluate their own performance.

For his part, the Manager of Edufinance, Opportunity International Savings and Loans Ltd., Stephen Yankey, said the institution had provided over GH¢100 million in funding to schools since the inception of the programme in the country.

"We've been able to provide funding to schools through our school improvement loans and school fees loan products," he explained.

However, Mr Yankey noted that lending to schools came with challenges, primarily regulatory and called for a more conducive regulatory environment to support lending to schools.