CHASS ask for outstanding funds payment before SHSs reopening
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) ahead of the next academic year’s school reopening is demanding the payment of outstanding funds to second-cycle schools across the country.
In a press statement issued on Friday, December 21, 2024, and sighted by Pretertiary.com, the heads of the second-cycle schools asked the government to settle all outstanding bills to enable them to run their schools effectively.
According to the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools, the government though has released some funds to certain second-cycle schools, but these disbursements have not fully addressed critical issues.
“While we acknowledge some recent disbursements of funds to schools, we regret to inform you that this release has not fully resolved the critical financial needs of our institutions,” the Conference statement noted.
CHASS pointed out that some of the funds the government owes to schools include arrears for perishable items, funds for day schools and single-track schools, funds for transporting food items from distribution centres to schools, funds for essential utility bills, and recurrent funding for the schools.
Describing the situation as a threat to the smooth operations of schools, CHASS said “These funds are critical for the successful reopening of schools in January,” adding that “without these resources, school heads will face insurmountable challenges in managing daily operations.”
The Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools statement further warned that the government’s failure to pay the funds would result in poor management of the nation’s secondary institutions and negatively impact students’ well-being.
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) has also threatened to take action regarding the reopening of government second-cycle schools for the next academic year in early January 2025.
“We will advise against the resumption of the academic calendar,” the Assisted Heads of Secondary Schools press statement dated Friday, December 21, 2024 concluded, “should the government fail to disburse the funds.”
In other news, The Conference of Heads of Private Second-Cycle Schools (CHOPSS) has called on the government to settle the debt owed to the West African Examinations Council to enable WAEC to release the 2024 WASSCE for School results.
In a statement, the Private Second-Cyle Schools Conference emphasized that students from private schools who sat for the examination and paid their WASSCE registration fees are unfairly affected by the delay in the release of the results.
“The government’s failure to address this issue promptly is deeply unfair to private schools, parents, and students,” the Conference of Heads of Private Second-Cycle Schools stated in the press statement dated December 22, 2024.
