Parents of newly admitted senior high school (SHS) students are lamenting the expensive prospectus compared to the tuition fees they used to pay.

With as much as ¢2,000, parents cannot purchase the over 30 listed items on the students’ prospectus.

Schools expect strict compliance to the prospectus as part of admission processes. However, with the rising cost of items on the market, some parents are challenged.

Hajia Mariam is supposed to be shopping for her two teenagers who gained admission this year.

However, she can only afford to shop for only one. The other child, she says, can wait till next year to enter senior high school.

“I am panicking as I buy the items. They are very expensive. I am afraid if I fail to purchase some, my ward may be denied entry. I have not even bought half of the items. The money I brought is already finished,” she said.

Hajia Mariam visited the market with ¢1,500, but she has not been able to purchase half of the items on the list.

“It is my eldest son’s item I was able to buy. Where do I get more money to purchase the remaining items on the list? The younger one will have to stay home till I get money. I am worried,” she said.

Aunt Lucy’s situation is no different from Hajia Mariam's. She was told by the school that her inability to provide all items will lead to her ward being denied admission.

“I am not in good financial standing. I am sending my daughter to school first. My son will stay home for a while till I am financially capable. I brought ¢1,800 to the market yesterday. It wasn’t enough. The items sold here are all expensive.

"Government should assist parents. We are suffering. We have been cautioned by the school that if we do not buy all items, we will be denied entry,” she said.

Other guardians see some items on the prospectus as unnecessary.

“Cutlass, axes and brooms are unnecessary. If all 500 students are bringing all these same items, what will it be used for? Probably the teachers are keeping it so they can sell it. If your ward fails to bring it too, he or she will be in trouble,” he said.

Another said, “Hundred dusters from 100 students, are they going to dust the whole school. Thousand cutlasses from 1000 students, are they weeding the whole school? Are there no mowers? I am sure the school authorities keep the items and sell them off. The thievery in this country is on another level,”

As the total of items in the prospectus may be higher than admission fees, there have been divergent views from guardians.

“You only need to buy gari and a few items for your ward to attend school. President Akufo-Addo has done well with Free SHS. As poor as I am, my son attended Prempeh College. Where would I have gotten tuition fees,” a parent quizzed.

” The items on the market are very expensive. The list on the prospectus is more than the tuition fees we paid previously. The Free SHS is a bad move,” she said.