The Bishop of the Accra Diocese of the Methodist Church, Rt. Rev. Dr Samuel Nii Onmai Ollennu has called for an equal distribution of resources to Day and Boarding Senior High Schools by the government as it reviews the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
He explained that allocation of more resources to boarding schools by the government under the Free SHS policy had led to an increased number of enrolment and overcrowding of boarding schools as against day schools in the country.
Rt. Rev. Dr Ollennu made the observation at the 64th Annual Synod of the Accra Diocese of the Methodist Church, Ghana, held at the Nazareth Methodist Church in Accra on Thursday.
It was under the theme, “Discipleship: Growing into Christian Maturity.”
According to Rt. Rev. Dr Ollennu, the overspending on boarding schools by the government had led to an inequality in resource allocation between day schools and boarding schools, especially in terms of feeding.
He said that there was no provision in the Constitution that required governments to provide free boarding facilities for learners.
“Let there be equality in the distribution of resources to the Day and Boarding students in the schools. If one person can not afford a boarding house fee, that person can go to school free of charge by enrolling as a day student in a school in their community”, Rt. Rev. Dr Ollennu said.
“Let not the boarding house be necessarily for the rich, but for those who can afford it. In that regard, the students could be fed with more nutritious meals to help develop their brains and improve their mental capacity for learning and critical thinking to solve our problems with home-grown solutions”, he added.
The Bishop also recommended that the government should consider serving only two free meals at the schools, with breakfast at about 9.00 am, and lunch at about 2.00 pm.
Additionally, he said that the cost of supper and boarding should be borne by the parents, adding that such a scenario would ensure equality in the money spent on day students and boarders by the government.
Furthermore, Rt. Rev. Dr Ollennu urged the government and educational authorities to ensure inclusive education, especially in Science, Technical, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in the country.
According to him, there was a gap that existed between the learning achievements of boys and girls as analysis of the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) Distinguish Awards showed that about 60 per cent went to Girls while 40 per cent went to boys.
“Let the equation be balanced. If there is STEM for girls, there should be another STEM for boys to drive equity”, Rt. Rev. Dr Ollennu said.
The Methodist Church, Rt. Rev. Dr Ollennu said, would continue to collaborate with the government to improve the quality of education in the country.
BY EUGENE AMPIAW
