An aspiring National Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Kwadwo Agyei, popularly known as Nana Kay, has called on government to introduce facility user fees for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) schools across the country.
According to him, charging modest fees will help government maintain the schools and prevent them from deteriorating into poorly managed public institutions.
Nana Kay made the call while speaking on Kessben FM’s morning show, Maakye. He said a recent visit to a STEM school at East Legon left him shocked by the state of the facility and the level of overcrowding.
“I got to the school around 3:30 pm on a Friday to seek admission for my child, and I was surprised that there was not even a single teacher or school authority present,” he stated.
He alleged that the school had become overpopulated largely because it is completely free, stressing that the situation has caused it to resemble an ordinary government school, popularly referred to as “syto.”
According to Nana Kay, the absence of facility user fees has placed pressure on infrastructure and reduced accountability among school authorities and teachers.
He further claimed that apathy among staff is partly due to the perception that the school is a government institution with little oversight, leading to lax attitudes toward supervision and maintenance.
Nana Kay emphasized that introducing minimal fees would not exclude students but rather ensure sustainability, proper maintenance, and improved management of the STEM schools.
He therefore called for stricter measures and stronger accountability systems to protect the schools from further deterioration and to preserve their original purpose of providing quality science and technology education.
His comments have sparked debate over whether public STEM education should remain completely free or adopt a cost-sharing model to ensure efficiency and long-term sustainability.
