Guidelines for Seeking Approval For Private School to be Absorbed By Government, Transfer Ownership Or To Cease Operation

Guidelines for Seeking approval to Cease Operation, Transfer Ownership and Absorption by Government

The National Schools and Inspectorate Authority is authorized to handle all request for private schools absorption as government schools. NaSIA also handles Cessation of Operation of schools and Transfer of Ownership of schools.

For any individual to conduct any of these three processes, there are laid down procedure that must be followed. NaSIA has outlined the processes below for each of the three activities.

Absorption by Government

For a school to be absorbed, a School Proprietor should willingly decide to give his/her school out to the Government of Ghana Public Education System to absorb and operate it forever. To qualify for absorption into the public education system, a Proprietor must be licensed by NaSIA.

As required by the Ghana Education Service (GES), the School Proprietor and School Leadership would need to sign a document to the effect that:

No compensation would be paid to any School Proprietor(s) upon the absorption of the school.
The GES reserves the right to alter the current name of the school to reflect the wider societal interest if deemed appropriate.

Step 1: The School Proprietor must complete and submit the Notice of Intent to be Absorbed (NoIA) Form and the following supporting documents:

Final Account: Submit either a Final Account Document which includes [the Notes to Accounts, Receipts and Payments, Revenue and Expenditure
b. Financial Statement (Balance Sheet), Cashflow, Trial Balance] or submit each document required in the Final Accounts document, in the brackets above, individually.

This application must be submitted at least one academic year before the intended year of absorption. The submission of this application is meant to inform NaSIA of the Proprietor’s intention and does not attract any fee.

Step 2: NaSIA reviews submitted NoIA and supporting documents.

Step 3: NaSIA constitutes an Inspection Panel (IP) to conduct a Whole School Inspection to gather enough evidence about the school, its current state, and the community it serves. The IP will communicate its findings to the Inspector General of Schools (IGS) through an Inspection report.

Step 4: Subsequently, NaSIA shall interview the School Proprietor to discuss details of the application, submitted documents, and the Whole School Inspection report. The School Proprietor is to come along with original copies of all submitted documents
After the Whole School Inspection, if the School Proprietor decides to rescind his/her decision to be absorbed, the cost of the inspection will be surcharged to the proprietor by NaSIA.

Step 5: NaSIA takes a decision based on Inspection Findings together with representatives from the Ministry of Education and all key Agencies of the Ministry.

Step 6: NaSIA communicates the intention of the School Proprietor, information gathered, the decision made, and recommendations to the Minister, GES, and other key Agencies under the Ministry

In a similar fashion as the establishment of schools in Ghana, Proprietors at some point may desire to either cease operations or close down, change ownership or even transfer their school to the government to continue operation. This may be as a result of several factors such as lack of funds, death of the owner, the decline in enrolment, among others. To protect the interest of all stakeholders of the school, NaSIA requires that proprietors (person(s) or organization) that intends to Cease Operation, Transfer Ownership, or be Absorbed by the government should follow statutory requirements and responsibilities associated with the Transition process as outlined by NaSIA.

Process to Cease Operation

Deciding to cease the operation of a school requires some level of critical evaluation of the decision before any further action is taken. Consequently, if a Proprietor at any point finds it necessary to close or cease operation of his/her school that is licensed by NaSIA, it is required that due statutory processes, requirements, and responsibilities associated with the process to cease operation are adhered to.

Step 1: The Proprietor must complete and submit the Notice of Intent to Cease Operation (NoIC) Form with a Transition plan. The Transition Plan of the school must detail the reasons to cease operations and how learners will be migrated to a new school. To ensure a smooth transition, the applicant must also submit the academic records of all learners, including Continuous Assessment Forms, Transcripts, and Tuition refund plans (if any). This application must be submitted at least one academic year before the intended date of closure. The submission of this application is meant to inform NaSIA of the Proprietor’s intention and does not attract any fee.

Step 2: NaSIA reviews submitted NoIC Form and transition plan for appropriateness.

Step 3: NaSIA constitutes an Inspection Panel (IP) to conduct an Investigative Inspection to gather more facts about the school, its current state, and the community it serves. IP communicates their findings in an official report to the Inspector-General of Schools (IGS).

Step 4: NaSIA conducts an interview for the School Proprietor with the licensing sub-committee to discuss details of the application, submitted transition plan, and the Investigative Inspection report. The School Proprietor is to come along with at least one copy of the submitted transition plan.

Step 5: NaSIA communicates its decision to the School Proprietor after the interview through an official letter within two (2) weeks. In the case where NaSIA is satisfied, NaSIA issues an Approval Letter to approve the application and the Transition plan to be implemented. However, if NaSIA is not satisfied, a Letter with Recommendations is issued for the School Proprietor to work on before an Approval Letter can be issued. The Approval Letter will be valid for the period specified in the letter.

Step 6: Proprietor implements the action items on the transition plan approved by NaSIA without any modification. In instances where circumstances require a change in the transition plan, the School Proprietor must officially write to NaSIA to seek approval indicating the reason(s) for the change. To ensure that the School Proprietor conforms to the agreed transition plan, NaSIA monitors its implementation by requiring the submission of a bi-monthly progress report to the Authority. NaSIA may also embark on a Compliance Inspection.

Step 7: After full implementation of the transition plan, NaSIA shall revoke the License of the school and advertise in front of the school “THIS FACILITY CEASES TO BE A SCHOOL” for the next six (6) months.

Step 8: NaSIA reports the school’s closure to the Minister of Education and consequently publishes it on NaSIA’s website. The school will then be declared officially closed.

Transfer of Ownership

For the transfer of school ownership through sales, inheritance, gifts, or others, NaSIA considers the process as more of life-transforming than a mere transaction. It involves legally transferring the ownership name and operation of a school to another individual or organization. Thus, the school under consideration will continue to operate even under the new owner.

Step 1: The School Proprietor must complete and submit the Notice of Intent to Transfer Ownership (NoIT) Form on NaSIA’s website at a fee. This application must be submitted at least one academic year before the intended year of transfer. The submission of this application is meant to inform NaSIA of the Proprietor’s intention.

Step 2: NaSIA reviews submitted NoIT form

Step 3: NaSIA then issues a Letter of Consent to support the intent of the School Proprietor. The Letter of Consent will be valid for a specified period as indicated in the letter (The School Proprietor may have to reapply after the specified period). Upon receipt of the Letter of Consent, the School Proprietor can proceed with the necessary actions (legal, financial, social, etc.) to transfer the ownership of the school to the Prospective School Proprietor. All the necessary documents should be completed and change of ownership effected at the Registrar General’s Department.

Step 4: After the ownership has been transferred to the selected individual who acquires the school, he/she becomes the New School Proprietor. The New Proprietor completes and submits the Application for Authorisation (AfA) Form and supporting documents as stated in step 1 of section 2.4.2 at a fee as specified on NaSIA’s website. This step begins the stage of updating the school’s records to reflect the new changes.

Step 5: NaSIA reviews submitted AfA Form and supporting documents and grants approval.

Step 6: The Proprietor proceeds to complete and submit the Notice of Intent to Operate (NoI) Form and supporting documents at a fee as specified on NaSIA’s website.

Step 7: NaSIA reviews submitted NoI Form and supporting documents for completeness and issues approval.

Step 8: NaSIA reviews the Provisional License to ensure that the right license is issued to the school based on the curriculum, school name, and levels that the new School Proprietor intends to operate. School Ownership is now officially changed with NaSIA.