The Minister of Education, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, has confirmed the increase in Capitation Grant amount from GHS 4.5 to GHS 10.00 per year, per student for basic schools in the country.
According to the sector minister, “basic schools have a high incidence of extra fees and levies, as Capitation Grant amount of GHS 4.5 per child per year was deemed to be inadequate”. He added that “research conducted by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) in 2015 revealed that fees and levies charged to pupils’ hindered access and effective participation in basic education to those who had difficulty paying fees and levies imposed by the schools”.
Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh made these revelations in his speech during the 2019 National Education Week held at La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Accra on Tuesday, August 6, 2019.
Effective 2017/18 academic year, Capitation Grant amount was increased from GHS 4.5 per student per year to GHS 10.0 per student per year. “The 122% increase in per capita Capitation Grant is expected to remove cost barriers to free access and provide schools with a minimum amount of funds required to keep schools running”, he stated.
He also mentioned that merging the National Education Sector Annual Review (NESAR) with the Evidence Summit was to ensure that evidence from paper presentations become part of technical discussions to improve the recommendations made to the ministry has yielded positive results.
‘‘The improvement in discussions and recommendations we had from the maiden National Education Week is an indication that the right decision was taken. The NEW platform where stakeholders gather to assess sector performance and make recommendations for improvement has, therefore, become critical to effective policy and strategy decision making to the Ministry’’ he said.
By: Bridget Mensah