Members of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly (CCMA) became startled and angry last week when they heard the news that the Ghana Education Service (GES) and Ministry of Education had failed to implement the 30% admission to second-cycle schools in the well-endowed schools in the region.
The assembly was more shocked because it had painstakingly filed formal petitions at the GES directorate and the ministry. And the violation of the 30% allocation means that those who glossed over the requirements are admitting students from outside the city or region to �invade� the good schools in Cape Coast to the detriment of the children of the soil.
The municipal chief executive, Anthony Egyir Aikins, who broke the news at the assembly�s sitting, last week, said his office had put in every effort to ensure that the 30% allocation was adhered to in this year�s admissions but officials found out later to their utter surprise that the ministry and GES had ignored their petition totally.
This, he explained, was because the assembly trusted that the GES would implement the policy. But the outsmarted local authority has vowed to prevent the unfair treatment from being repeated next year.
The announcement came when the Education Sub-committee chairman of the assembly, Richard Moses, presented a list of the number of Cape Coast indigenes who had secured admission to the various endowed schools. It became a give-and-take affair among the assembly members, who grew furious with the development where pupils from Cape Coast were denied admission to schools on their land although they qualified.
The agitation forced the metropolitan director of education, Simeon Obotan Larbi, to present a final list of all students who gained admission into Cape Coast schools totaling about 799.
Below is the breakdown of indigenes that got placement in the elite schools here in Cape Coast: Holy Child, 12; Ghana National College, 18; St. Augustine�s College, 19; Wesley Girls� High School, 23; Mfantsipim, 36; and Adisadel College, 152.
They had to largely make do with the less-sought-after ones actually; University Practice Senior High School, 166; Oguaa Secondary Technical, 119; Academy of Christ the King, 155; and Efutu Secondary Technical, 99.
According to the education director, this year�s figure was, somehow, an improvement over that of last year following complaints from all corners of the metropolis.The MCE then assured the residents to exercise patience as they find solution to the problems.
The presiding member of the CCMA, Nana Awuku, said the assembly would take the matter up, giving the figures to make their case when they meet the education minister and the director general of GES.
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