Data from the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) show that a total of 126 private schools in the country have collapsed as of Monday, January 4, 2021, due to the challenges brought on by the ravaging impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The pandemic among other things has left many of the schools in a state of financial difficulties, bankruptcy and insolvency making it difficult for many of these schools to operate as the nationwide resumption of school activities approach.
The Council has also identified the failure of regulatory agencies such as the National Inspectorate Board (NIB), Social Security Insurance and National Trust (SSNIT) and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to ensure flexible terms of cooperation during their hard times.
In a statement, the Greater Accra Region topped the list with 16 collapsed schools. It was followed by the Northern Region where 13 schools have become non-operational.
The Ashanti Region came third with 11 closed schools. GNACOPS says the closure of these educational facilities means an average 37,800 students have been affected due to the unfortunate development.
An average of 2,394 teachers have also become redundant as a result, the GNACOPS reported noted. In an interview with citinewsroom.com, National Executive Director of GNACOPS, Enoch Kwasi Gyetuah decried the tough moment being faced by its members.
The outbreak of COVID-19 in Ghana, which led to the closing down of schools and businesses, elicited the rolling out of some social interventions by the government.
One of such interventions was the disbursement of stimulus packages for micro, small and medium enterprises that had been hit hard by the pandemic across the country.
Schools that were not exempted from the categorization done applied to benefit from the package.
However, the Ghana National Council of Private Schools has raised concerns over the procedure required of them in order to benefit from the intervention.
Source:Fiilafmonline/Citifmonline
