The President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Reverend Father Stephen Owusu Sekyere, has expressed disappointment over the disconnection of electricity from the Accra Academy school. According to him, an educational institution should not be subjected to such treatment.
“What has happened at Accra Academy is very unfortunate. I do not see why we have over two thousand students in a school and we need the power to work with them, to educate, to form them, and help them grow, and all of a sudden a government entity would go in there and disconnect a public school that is training future leaders. Very unfortunate,” he told Joy News in an interview.
There have been several controversies after the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) disconnected electricity at the Accra Academy School in Accra. The ECG said the school had not paid their electricity bill since July 2023. The current bill is estimated to be four hundred thousand Ghana cedis
The Ghana Education Service and the Free SHS Secretariat, the institutions responsible for the payment of electricity bills for senior high schools in Ghana refuted the claims from ECG. They said ECG has not served them the bill from July 2023 and that Accra Academy’s bill cannot amount to the said debt as the national electricity bill for senior high schools is mostly a little over five hundred thousand Ghana cedis.
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As it stands now, power has been restored to the school after ECG received a cheque for an undisclosed amount from the Free SHS Secretariat.
Reverend Father Stephen Owusu however, also warned that causing blackouts in schools is a recipe for chaos and urged the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to desist from such action.
“Taking away power from the senior high schools (SHS) is a recipe for chaos and this is a security matter. You cannot just enter the schools and cut off the power. ECG should stop what they are doing to the schools in the country,” Father Owusu added.
He has implored GES and the Free SHS Secretariat to ensure that no schools are cut off from electricity again.
Since last year, as part of efforts to revamp revenue mobilisation strategies, the Electricity Company of Ghana has been on a power disconnection spree. They have disconnected establishments with illegal connections as well as debtors including government institutions.