CHASS demands from govt – Give us the mandate to purchase food for students

The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) has urged school administrators to permit their institutions to purchase food for student consumption.

According to the statement, CHASS had been requesting that post for a few years because of the way certain suppliers let it down by not delivering food goods on schedule.

At the 61st annual conference of the association in Accra yesterday, Rev. Stephen Owusu Sekyere, National President of the CHASS, made the appeal. He also urged a major increase in funding allotted for all activities to keep up with the present rise in the pricing of products and services.

“We firmly believe that obtaining food items directly from our established suppliers will aid in addressing the severe food shortages in our schools,” he continued.

CHASS Gathering

The main goal of CHASS’s annual gathering was to bring together educational leaders from throughout the country to exchange ideas on best practices for managing schools in the hopes of achieving excellence in senior high school (SHS) instruction.

“We firmly believe that obtaining the food items directly from our traditional suppliers will help deal with the food shortages and reduce the logistical and operational challenges that come with them,” Rev. Sekyere stated.

According to him, the schools lacked the financial resources necessary to carry out crucial, ongoing operations.

Rev. Sekyere observed that, as a result, doing regular maintenance tasks like painting, carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical work, and repairing some office equipment had become extremely challenging.

He also voiced serious concerns about the delays in providing newly admitted kids with school uniforms, claiming that these delays created an opportunity for absenteeism.

The national president went on to say that conducting internal tests had also grown challenging and that, as a result, funding for these examinations needed to be raised.

“The expense of conducting practicals must be covered by the subsequent release.

To lessen the strain of the job, management must also make sure that all school financing is released on schedule, he said.

Non-compliance

Rev. Sekyere stated that the CHASS could not act as though everything was OK in their capacity as the nation’s leaders of SHS and that they were merely a human institution overseeing the greatest human resource.

Rev. Sekyere voiced worry about the rising incidence of misbehavior and indiscipline that had plagued the majority of senior high schools, pointing out that some of these transgressions, including drug usage, occultism, bullying, and hooliganism, had their origins in the homes and communities of the offenders.

Reverend Sekyere acknowledged the recently passed SHS code of conduct, but he insisted that CHASS be granted some discretionary authority at the board of governors level to address more pressing matters in order to expedite the administration of justice in schools.

As a result, he urged everyone involved in education to help the schools shape the next generation of leaders for a better future.

“Our roles as heads of SHS in the country are very critical in shaping the future of our students, our country, and the world,” he said, referring to the free SHS program.

In order to shape the free SHS policy, he stated, all contributions and suggestions must be encouraged.

“The free SHS is a great effort that has made secondary education accessible to the nation’s less fortunate citizens.

He stated that “CHASS acknowledged the government’s commitment to restoring senior high technical schools as well as the unwavering effort of the government to sustain the Free SHS policy,” listing additional incentives like the supply of classrooms, furniture, cars, and dorm facilities.

But in order to enhance the state of the schools, he requested more of this kind of assistance.

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