Exclusive: CHASS rejects new re-opening date for SHS 3 students
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) has rejected the proposal by the Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to bring forward the re-opening date for third year students in Senior High Schools (SHSs).
According to a document intercepted by The Ghana Report, the head of second cycle institutions rejected Prof. Kwasi Opoku Amankwa’s proposal for an academic intervention for SHS 3 students on grounds that their teachers were tired thus needed time off to recuperate.
A statement from the CHASS meeting held early in August says, “This is to inform you that, at the 57th National CHASS Conference which was held at Takoradi from Monday, 5th Aug.- Friday,9th Aug. 2019, CHASS did not accept the Director General of GES proposal or notice of the date of re-opening of school on 19th August, 2019 to provide classes for our final year students.
The stance was as a result of the realization that, our teachers are tired and need time to rest a bit.”
The statement adds further, “Again, for those operating boarding schools, heads were wondering whether funds will truly be made available for day to day management of our schools, especially immediate feeding of the students or it was going to be a headache for school administrators?
There was not going to be any monetary charge against parents and there is also no money in the coffers of school to take care of the feeding of students during the period.”
The Secondary School Heads says it was agreed that a meeting needed to be convened between them and government for the aforementioned issues to be dealt with before the announcement of a confirmation for the re-opening would be finalized
“It was, therefore, agreed between Government and CHASS that, it is necessary to meet in order to address all such concerns before a confirmation can be given for the re-opening of school on the said date. So, in effect until we get a confirmation from the Director General and CHASS, school is not going to re-open on the 19th August, 2019 as proposed earlier,” the statement said.
CHASS asked form three teachers to continue enjoying their holidays since no meeting had taken place between them and the government.
The Ghana Education Service on Wednesday August 14, directed all Senior High School (SHS) third-year students to report to school on Monday, August 19, to begin the semester of the 2019-2020 Academic Year.
The move is part of a programme by the government termed ‘academic intervention’ to allow form three SHS teachers to teach their students for a month out of which the latter would be paid by their employer.
The directive brings forward, the re-opening date initially set for September 16 for the third-year students, the first batch of the free SHS policy.
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) in a statement signed by its president, Angel Eric Carbonu earlier on Friday asked its teachers not to comply with the said directive but rather enjoy their holidays.
The association has warned it will rise up against any person or group of persons who victimize teachers for deciding to enjoy their holidays.