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GES outdoors new uniforms for JHS students from next academic year

The Ghana Education Service (GES) yesterday outdoored a new school uniform for Junior High School (JHS) students to phase out the current brown and yellow uniform.

The uniforms designed with features of a Ghana flag, certificate and a graduation cap, as its badge would take effect from the next academic year, September 2019/2020.

The Director-General of the GES, Professor Kwasi Opoku Amankwa, who announced this, said the new uniforms, as part of many ongoing reforms in the educational sector, would gradually replace the old ones and become the official attire for Junior High School students.

“The idea behind this change is to let the JHS students see themselves psychologically as senior high school students. Because per our structure, JHS is part of the primary school and students tend to see themselves as primary students but we want to distinguish them from primary students and make them senior high school students,” he explained.

According to the DG, “the shirts would have symbols on it such as a graduate’s cap depicting the graduation from the basic school to secondary school, a stack of books depicting knowledge, a rolled up certificate to show intelligence and the Ghana flag showing patriotism.”

Although the uniforms were to replace the current ones, Prof. Amankwa clarified that students who could not readily access the new ones would not be prevented from attending classes, indicating that “faith-based schools may use their own colours for the uniforms but the design would remain the same.”

Prof. Amankwa indicated that the cost of purchasing uniforms would be borne by parents but “information relating to where to acquire them would be made available in due time” though he assured “the cost would not be beyond market price”.

“Parents have always been the ones to purchase uniforms aside from some deprived areas where government pays for the uniforms and this strategy remains unchanged. Government may only provide for the deprived areas but the rest would be supplied by the parents themselves,” he stated.

Touching on the issue of printing fees for examinations, the DG said plans were underway to procure photocopiers and printing machines for various district and regional education offices to print out examination questions and other papers where necessary.

“We have recently increased capitation to GH¢10.00 so under the new arrangements we are looking at resolving some of these issues. We do not want a situation where students are denied access to education because parents cannot pay for printing fees,” he said.


By ABIGAIL ANNOH AND FREDERICK GADESE-MENSAH

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