Feeding grant to 3 northern regions GH¢4.2m so far paid

Frontpage (1a), May 29, 2008
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE government has so far released GH¢4,255,149.92, out of the GH¢7,344,413.92 to be paid as feeding grant for second-cycle schools in the three northern regions for the 2007/08 academic year.
The Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Professor Dominic Fobih, who made this known in Parliament yesterday, said only last week a cheque was issued for GH¢1.7 million and wondered why the heads of second-cycle schools in those areas had refused to re-open the schools.
Professor Fobih was reacting to a statement made on the floor of the House by the Minority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin, on the cumulative effect of the disruption of the academic calendar of senior secondary schools in the three northern regions.
The minister said efforts were being made to pay the balance of GH¢3,079.264 to enable the schools to pay their creditors.
He indicated that the Scholarships Secretariat was in a fix as to why the intake of schools in the three northern regions was 7,000 more than what was expected and said an audit would, therefore, be conducted to ascertain the veracity of the figure.
In his statement, Mr Bagbin had called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, release the feeding grant for senior secondary schools in the three northern regions.
He observed that the cumulative effect of the disruption of academic calendar in those schools would wipe out any gains made in addressing the historical imbalance between the north and the south.
Mr Bagbin said notwithstanding the disruption of the academic calendar in those areas as a result of delays in the release of feeding grants, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) would not change its examinations schedule to accommodate students from the north.
Mr Bagbin, who is also the Member of Parliament for Nadowli West, said it was sad that despite persistent calls by both parents and heads of those second-cycle institutions, the government had turned a deaf ear to those pleas.
The MP said what was regrettable was that the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), set up primarily to promote education, had been compelled by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports to metamorphose into a ‘Father Christmas’ doling out money to the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment.
Mr Bagbin said people from the northern regions would not believe that it was the intention of any post-independent government to perpetuate the colonial government’s policy of keeping the northerner as a low-class citizen.
“Any wilful marginalisation of the north by any government is detrimental to the overall development and growth of the country. Ghana is a unitary state and, like the human body, if one part suffers pain, it is the whole body that suffers,” he said.
Mr Bagbin said sight should not be lost of the fact that students from the north would write the same examinations with students from other parts of the country.
“This lackadaisical attitude by the government will rather deepen the woes of these unfortunate students who, even in their present circumstances, do not have access to a lot of facilities enjoyed by those in the south,” the MP said.
Other MPs who contributed to the statement were Mr Stephen Balado-Manu (Ahafo-Ano South), Mr Mark-Anthony Awuni (Binduri) and Mr Anthony Akoto Osei, MP for Old Tafo and Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance.