Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Eric Nkansah says power has been restored to Accra Academy.
Dr. Nkansah explained that the Free SHS Secretariat, which is responsible for paying the electricity bills for all 704 secondary schools in Ghana, has been working with the Electricity Company of Ghana and paid all bills.
Speaking on JoyNews, he noted that according to their records, all payments were up to date and no schools should have been disconnected.
“I have resolved this with the Managing Director of the Electricity Company and the school has been restored, so we do not expect to see what we saw yesterday,” he said.
Dr. Nkansah said he would continue to work with the Electricity Company of Ghana to ensure that no further disruptions occur in the various secondary schools.
He stated that a meeting has been scheduled between the Free SHS Secretariat, the Ghana Education Service, and the Electricity Company of Ghana to discuss how payments are going to be made on time so that schools are not disconnected in the future.
“I can assure you that based on the arrangement that we have and the discussions ongoing we will certainly not be seeing those going forward,” he said.
Background
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) said it had no choice but to disconnect Accra Academy from the national grid on Monday, February 19.
The senior high school’s campus experienced a total blackout, forcing students to rely on torchlights for studying.
This situation raised concerns among guardians and stakeholders and triggered widespread controversy about the state of utility in second-cycle institutions across the country.
According to reports, the school owes approximately GHS500,000 in post-paid electricity bills since July 2023.
ECG’s External Communications Manager emphasized that the school will not be reconnected until it meets certain basic requirements in line with the company’s revenue mobilisation drive.
