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The Association of International Certification Schools (ASICS) Ghana, representing 42 international curriculum schools, has expressed "great disappointment" with a press release issued by the National Schools Inspectorate Authority (NaSIA) last Thursday, October 14, 2021.

"For the record: ASICS would like to state categorically that all our schools are duly accredited with the respective international regulatory bodies," a statement issued by the Executive Council of ASICS, for and on behalf of members of the association at the weekend, said.

The statement insisted that, "ASICS is not averse to paying fees to be licensed in Ghana. Once the fees for the current year have been approved by the government agency authorised to do so, our schools will comply as they have always done".

Seeking audience

It explained that ASICS had earlier sought audience with the former Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, at the time he was the sector minister and also sought audience with the current minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, which were granted.

"Both audiences resulted in constructive conversations about our roles and responsibilities as private institutions allowed to operate under the auspices of the Ministry of Education. We have been grateful for these interactions.

"Our interactions with NaSIA, however, have not been fruitful. We have met with NaSIA on several occasions to understand the terms of engagement, and to resolve an ongoing dispute concerning the inequitable levying of license fees.

“We have not been met with fairness, openness nor an indication of NaSIA’s understanding of the role private institutions play in the overall education space," the statement said.

Open door policy

The statement said ASICS schools had always been open to inspection and monitoring since that promoted best practice.

The statement said it was the desire of the association to work with local agencies with the goal of transparency and integrity.

"Our schools, while private, continue to contribute immensely to the national education agenda.

By this statement we are assuring parents and all stakeholders that our member schools continue to be in good standing with international regulatory bodies.

The following links provide accurate and transparent information on the status of international curricular schools for the scrutiny of our stakeholders.

The statement provided links: https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/why-choose-us/find-a-cambridge-school/ and https://www.british council.org.gh/partner-schools
https://www.ibo.org/programmes/find-an-ib-school/ to the curriculum accrediting bodies which allowed for anyone to check the status of their child’s schools with either the Cambridge Assessment International Education or the International Baccalaureate Organisation.