Council of Private Schools demands designated office and minister

The Ghana National Council of Private Schools is pushing for the creation of a designated office at the Ministry of Education that will be solely responsible for Private sector education in Ghana.

The Council maintains that it was time the Government considered appointing a deputy Minister of Education in charge of the Private sector following the increasing number of private schools in Ghana.

It argues that the large numbers that they manage and educate demand that a special office at the Ministry of Education is created to attend to issues in their operations.

Executive Director of the Ghana National Council of Private Schools, Enoch Kwesi Gyetuah told Citi News the proposal when implemented by the government will help to easily address issues in the sector.

He argued that though there are more private schools than technical and vocational schools, there is a minister-designate for that sector and the same needs to be reciprocated for private schools.

“We have someone at the Ministry of Education responsible for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and we are talking about 22,000 private schools in the country holding about 42 percent of enrolment in the education space, and we are without a designated office or personnel responsible for private schools to coordinate things between the government and the private schools’ sector.”

Mr. Gyetuah further intimated that heeding their concerns will eliminate the challenges of the Council to protect the over 300,000 jobs the private education sector provides.

“We are talking about 300,000 teachers that the private education sector has employed, so it is very important the government appoints a minister in charge of private education so that matters concerning private education can easily be resolved.”