The management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) says the incentive package released to staff of senior high schools (SHSs) and technical institutions is subject to 10 per cent tax.

It, therefore, directed all paying officers to withhold 10 per cent of the amount payable to the beneficiaries to remit it to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The directive follows the release of a revised disbursement plan of the incentive package to staff of senior high and technical schools which had a component of 10 per cent tax.

The Director-General of the GES, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, who issued the directive to all paying officers at the various SHSs, said “it is expected that the disbursement plan will be strictly followed and all records properly kept.”

Amount disbursed

The government recently disbursed GH¢52.6 million to SHSs and technical institutions for academic interventions and teacher motivation.

The intervention covers activities such as extra classes organised by the teachers, group works for the students or any activity outside the normal classes hours aimed at improving learning outcomes.

The amount will be paid to both teaching and non-teaching staff in the SHS and technical schools to serve as an incentive for extra work.

Issuing the directive in an interview, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa explained that the release was in addition to the teacher motivation of GH¢20 per students already released to schools by the Free SHS Secretariat.

The current GH¢50 per student in addition to the earlier GH¢20 brings the total amount per student for the teacher motivation to GH¢70.

Guidelines

Speaking on the revised disbursement guidelines, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said 80 per cent of the total amount would go to the teaching staff, “while 20 per cent goes to non-teaching staff.”

Prof. Opoku-Amankwa explained that the amount covered schools that met the guidelines such as the submission of the total number of students on roll in the school.

He explained that the disbursement guidelines were drawn up and agreed on by the Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) and the various education unions.

Disbursement

Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said per the disbursement guidelines, 60 per cent of the 80 per cent of the total amount allocated to the teaching staff “shall serve as base rate (equal amount) to all teachers in Form One, Form Two and Form Three”.

He explained that based on the guidelines, 20 per cent of that 80 per cent should be disbursed to the teachers based on the approved total instructional hours per week during the intervention programme, while the remaining 20 per cent should be disbursed based on positions.

He listed the positions in the guidelines to include headmasters/headmistresses, assistant headmasters/assistant headmistresses, heads of departments/senior housemasters/senior housemistresses and form masters/form mistresses.

Non-teaching staff

For the non-teaching staff, the guidelines, according to Prof. Opoku-Amankwa, were that 50 per cent of the total amount of the 20 per cent should serve as base rate (equal amount) to all non-teaching staff.

The remaining 50 per cent, he explained, should be disbursed to the non-teaching staff based on the approved staff schedule, giving priority to the kitchen staff.