Government has released more than 50 per cent of the funds needed to finance the implementation of the free senior high schools (SHS) programme.
The money is expected to hit the accounts of various public Senior High Schools before they reopen next week for classes to begin.
Addressing the media in Accra on Thursday, a Deputy Minister of Finance, Abena Osei-Asare, said GH¢240 million out of the GH¢486 million required for the free SHS policy had been released.
She explained that the accounts of all 647 schools across the country would be credited by close of Friday for the smooth take-off of the programme.
Mrs Osei-Asare pleaded with banks which keep accounts of the schools to help advance action on processing the release and also notify the schools when their accounts are credited.
“We want to explain that the releases have not been delayed. We were waiting for the placement process to be completed and for the Ministry of Education to tell us the number of students in each school before the funds are transferred,†she explained.
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A total of 424,092 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates qualified for placement in SHSs and technical institutes this year.
About 36,849 candidates were not placed because they scored Grade 9 in either English Language or Mathematics.
The Deputy Finance Minister said the government remains committed to the free SHS policy and are putting in visible efforts by releasing more than half of the funds to the schools, instead of the initial 20 per cent it had planned to do. She added that the rest of the funds would be released in due course.
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) last Tuesday raised concerns about the delay in the release of the funds, but a Deputy Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum, assured them Wednesday that the funds would be in their accounts by today.
Read also: free SHS funds to be released to schools on Friday
Over 10,000 past JHS graduates to enter SHS this year
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