The Conference of Heads of Second Cycle Schools (CHASS) says it is deeply concerned about the rising reported cases of indiscipline among students and staff in senior high schools (SHSs).
It strongly condemned such acts and “assure parents and stakeholders of our firm and continuous commitment to ensuring the safety and protection of all students.”
“We will support any appropriate sanctions meted out to any staff if found culpable, while insisting on a fair and unbiased process,” CHASS said in a communique issued at the end of its 64th Annual National Conference in the Volta Region.
It was on the theme: “Student Discipline in a Challenging World: Context, Challenges and a Constructive Way Forward.”
The communique was signed by the President of CHASS, Rev. Fr Stephen Owusu Sekyere and General Secretary Primus Baro.
Delays in release of funds
It said the primary challenge confronting CHASS was the long delays in the release of insufficient funds, in spite of the establishment of a dedicated source of funding for free SHS, which was strongly advocated by CHASS.
“We would no longer accept excuses and explanations of data discrepancies that led to the bitter experience in the 2025/26 academic year where first-year funds were withheld for the whole year.
We look forward to the full payment of all arrears, including the legacy arrears of recurrent grant spanning 2021 to 2024 to enable schools to clear their longstanding indebtedness to benevolent creditors,” it said.
On emergency procurement, it said heads were officially authorised by the Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to urgently procure food items to feed students in November/December 2025.
Unfortunately, it said the money was yet to be released to pay the suppliers, some of whom were chasing innocent heads for their money.
“We request that this be settled without any further delays to relieve heads of this overwhelming burden,” it said.
Upward adjustment of perishable feeding grant
The communique said the current rate of GH ¢2.85 per student per day for perishable items no longer reflected market realities.
The same challenge, it said, applied to all items under the recurrent grant.
“We strongly appeal to the Government to upwardly adjust these allocations to align with current economic conditions and to ensure that students are fed with nutritious meals,” it said.
Regarding waiver of VAT on school procurement, it said it was worrying to note that procurement of perishable food items and other basic academic resources attracted 20% VAT, as insisted by auditors.
“We appeal to government to urgently waive such tax since its incidence is burdening the already woefully inadequate funds”.
The heads requested clarity on government policy of decentralised procurement of 40 per cent of essential food items at the school level, as originally proposed, in order to feed students effectively and to impact the local economy.
Restoration of PTAs
The heads said it had been a year since the government announced the restoration of parent-teacher associations (PTAs) in schools. Unfortunately, it said some legal controversies were affecting the effective operationalisation, even when parents were prepared to support schools to create a congenial atmosphere for their wards.
It said the longer that impasse is prolonged, the more schools/students suffer.
“We request that parents/guardians should freely be allowed to exercise their duty of care in the best interest of their wards in the respective schools without let or hindrance,” it said.
It noted with grave concern the deteriorating security situation in schools and, therefore, recommended a paradigm shift from the outdated watchman system to the deployment of properly trained, well-equipped and educated security personnel to meet the current security challenges.
The heads further requested for urgent recruitment of other critical non-teaching staff to fill existing vacancies.
Source:https://www.graphic.com.gh
