The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) has expressed displeasure with the National Board of Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) for its intention to disburse government’s stimulus package directly to teachers.
The group, together with the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) earlier expressed dissatisfaction with the delay in disbursement, and in line to register their displeasure, petitioned the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday, September 3, 2020.
In May 2020, the Deputy Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, in charge of Basic and Secondary Education, urged heads of private schools to apply for the GHS600million stimulus package allocated by the government to serve as stimulus packages to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on businesses.
Private schools are amongst businesses that have been severly hit by the pandemic as schools have been closed since March, 2020.
The group, in a media engagement yesterday called out the NBSSI for attempting to pay the stimulus packages allocated to private schools directly to the school teachers.
The Head of Human Resources for GNACOPS, Prince Entsie emphasized the application for the package was not only to pay staff, but to also ensure smooth administration of the schools until schools officially resume.
“When we gave them the update from NBSSI that they say the money now is going to be paid directly to the teachers, they said how can they say that because from the onset we haven’t had any discussion like that. It’s the school that is accessing this loan, not the teacher.”
“The money should be given to the schools so that they can equally give a share to the teachers to cater for themselves and then they can also use part of the money to put things in order so that when schools reopen they will be in [good] shape,” Citi News reports him to have quoted.
Receiving the petition on behalf of the President, The Deputy Director of State Protocol, Philip Kofi Aning, assured the group that the petition will be submitted to the president.
He also urged the group to stay calm and assured them of positive feedback following the submission.
“I will make sure that this petition gets to the office of the President through the Secretary of the President and then I know in due course, you will have the appropriate response. I just entreat that we all calm our nerves. I know this will receive the attention that it deserves,” he noted.
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