With six months remaining for the government to implement the four-year senior high school (SHS) programme, the Ministry of Education has tasked groups of consultants who are working feverishly to address the problem of additional classrooms and dormitories to accommodate new students. The completion of the work of the consultants, which is being fast-tracked, will enable junior high school (JHS) students who are due for admission to SHS in September this year to begin their academic work without any hitch. As a result of the introduction of the four-year SHS in 2007, many SHSs are faced with the lack of adequate classrooms and dormitories for the increased number of students. A source at the Ministry of Education, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in Accra last Friday, allayed the fears of the public concerning the smooth transition from the three-year SHS to four years and said a solution to the problem would certainly be found. The assurance of the Ministry of Education comes against the backdrop of report from the regions that SHSs may not be able to admit new JHS students for SHS programmes because of lack of space and facilities. The source said the government was committed to pursuing its agenda of investing in the people and implementing its educational programmes. “We are collating the various suggestions being put out and once that is done we will take a decision,” it said. It hinted that an amendment to the Education Act to change the four-year SHS to three years had been drafted and approved by Cabinet and it would be laid before Parliament on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. The House is expected to approve the bill when it resumes in May 2010. From Kumasi, some SHSs in the Ashanti Region have warned that they will not be able to admit fresh students for the next academic year if the necessary infrastructure is not put in place, reports Kwame Asare Boadu. The heads of the schools contended that current classroom and residential accommodation available was not enough to meet the change-over of the SHS from three to four years and that it was incumbent on the government to save the situation. The Headmaster of the Anglican SHS in Kumasi, Rev Canon Emmanuel Yaw Brobe-Mensah, told the Daily Graphic that he had told the Parent- Teacher Association (PTA) of the school to find ways of helping the school, without which there could not be any admission of SHS One students in September. He stated that the PTA had agreed to levy each student GH¢10 for the provision of an additional classroom block, adding, however, that that "is not enough under the present circumstances". Rev. Canon Brobe-Mensah said the school needed seven additional classrooms immediately. "If we get this, then we can be sure to admit students to SHS One," he added. The Anglican SHS is one of the model schools that benefited from a number for projects during the NPP administration but the headmaster said unfortunately "no classroom blocks were provided". The Headmistress of Jachie Pramso SHS, Ms Afuande Eshun, said the school needed eight additional classrooms to be able to admit fresh students. "If not, we cannot admit even one person in September," she said in an interview. She, therefore, urged the authorities to come in to prevent what could be a major setback in the educational sector. Painting the same picture, the Assistant Headmaster (Academic) of the T.I. Ahmadiyya SHS, Mr Ernest Oppong Poku, said the main challenge facing the school was the lack of infrastructure, saying more needed to be provided immediately. He said there was the need to complete a 12-unit classroom block, the construction of which had been in abeyance, to facilitate academic work. He indicated that there was congestion in the dormitories, arguing that even if the school would admit students to SHS One, most of them would have to be day students. These concerns are replicated in virtually all SHSs across the country. Source: Daily Graphic